This Week's Library Selection (part 1):Hard Eight (1996)

For those of you that are not aware, many local town libraries, including Thomas Branigan here in Las Cruces, have a movie collection in which you can check out movies for free. Now the selection of newer titles is usually pretty thin, but for those of you looking to watch some of the great movies from the past, your local library is a place I'd recommend taking a look at.

For me the library has become a wonderful resource, offering access to a large range of classic and contemporary films without costing me any money to view them. On Tuesday, I decided to head to the library, and after a twenty minute search I selected the following four films: The Sting (1973)-Best Picture winner starring Robert Redford & Paul Newman; My Left Foot (1989) starring Daniel Day Lewis in his first Academy award winning performance; Marc Forster's The Kite Runner (2007); and Paul Thomas Anderson's first feature film, Hard Eight (1996).

Being a great admirer of writer, director Paul Thomas Anderson and the fact that Hard Eight was the only Anderson film of his five that I had yet to see, I decided of those four movies I would watch Hard Eight first. P.T. Anderson is best known as the writer & director of the 1997 critically acclaimed masterpiece Boogie Nights. Hard Eight was Anderson's first feature film, and was released one year prior to Boogie Nights.

Going back and watching a favorite director's first movie can sometimes be bittersweet. As exciting as it is to finally get the chance to view the film that started it all, many directors have this wonderful habit of getting better with their second and third movies, leaving the viewing of their first film as an almost disappointing experience. Luckily this problem did not arise while watching Hard Eight, as Anderson created a very seductive and confident first directorial effort.

Hard Eight stars Philip Baker Hall (Sydney), John C. Reilly (John), Gwyneth Paltrow (Clementine), and Samuel L. Jackson (Jimmy). Sydney, an experienced lifelong gambler, befriends the down on his luck John, taking him under his wing, teaching him the secrets to the life of a successful gambler and later becoming his surrogate father figure. John meets and impulsively falls in love with Clementine, a cocktail waitress who has a secret life as a part-time hooker. After hastily marrying, John and Clementine find themselves involved in a bad situation that if caught could lead to possible kidnapping and extortion charges, and desperately need Sydney's assistance to help make their problem disappear.

In the pantheon of P.T. Anderson films, I can't place this movie ahead of Boogie Nights, Punch Drunk Love or There Will Be Blood. But Hard Eight was a very pleasant surprise and one of the better movies that came out during a relatively weak 1996 movie year. Even in his first effort, Anderson's unique filming style is highly evident and the dialogue between characters is sharp and sophisticated. A highly recommended gambler indie flick: (*** 1/2 stars)