Hard Eight (1996)
This just about completes my collection of major Paul Thomas Anderson films, with Magnolia and Boogie Nights already being part of it. It's sort of odd that there are two writer-director Paul Andersons who are both well known at the same time in history, and that their filmographies and talents are so different; the more infamous Paul W.S. Anderson is a pretty good director (Event Horizon) but an absolutely atrocious writer (Alien Vs. Predator). Paul Thomas Anderson, however, is great at both--and certainly these three films bear no resemblance to those W.S. has directed.

This one bears the same overall feeling of Anderson's other films--a sort of hopeful reality, mixed with darkness and grit of events spun out of control and beyond the primarily well-meaning protagonists who are occasionally responsible for their predicaments, but never particularly deserve them. This time we open on Philip Baker Hall (present in all three films, I might add) as Sydney (the original title of the film) offering a cup of coffee and a cigarette to John C. Reilly (also present in all three films) as John Finnegan, who is slumped outside a diner with his head between his needs, obviously despondent. The exchange feels a little rough; I almost felt like I was reading through someone's big awesome indie script; dialogue was both terse and sparse, and felt a little unnaturally so. But, this disappeared pretty quickly. Sydney offers John $50 to live on, which John does not immediately accept--thinking Sydney is either trying to pick him up or trick him in some way. Sydney is gruff, but decent, clearly meaning well with the offer, but not one to take "no," for an answer or really any "lip."

He eventually convinces John to come with him to Las Vegas, so that he can show him a trick using a rate card in a casino to rack up credit and get a room and so on, and once he's into the room, John has now taken on a strong appreciation for Sydney's kindness to him, and follows him around like a faithful dog--but not an irritating one. Sydney clearly appreciates him and wants these good things for him, as well as for many people around him--including the waitress Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) who he asks not to flirt with him, saying that it isn't necessary and tipping her generously not to do so as she does with other tables. John has taken a shine to her, of course, and Sydney carefully orchestrates a meeting for the two of them, as she agrees that he is "cute" in the way he follows Sydney and orders the same drinks as him.

Eventually John picks up a friend in the Casino, Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson) who is a little rougher and more foul-mouthed than the rest of them. He makes lewd comments about the waitresses and women in the room, and gets into a philosophical debate when Sydney asks him not to make those comments from his table. Jimmy argues that it's normal, expected and even flattering to the waitresses to hear his comments, and Sydney simply asks that they not come from that table. Sydney does not like Jimmy an awful lot.

After Sydney gets Clementine and John into the same room together, events begin to unfold as I previously mentioned--we begin to learn more about where these characters have come from, their pasts spilling out and new events twisting and contorting to remove the amiable happy-go-lucky sort of feeling they had previously in life, but without removing hope from the film itself.

I really don't want to say too much, as the rest of the events really were surprisingly twisting, as compared to the early part of the film. Certainly we hold Sydney in doubt (who could be that generous?) and wonder what he's up to, and whether John, clearly not the brightest person on earth, even if he is a decent enough guy most of the time, is going to be able to maintain a life like this as a perpetual loser of sorts.

All four main cast members are absolutely mesmerizing in their roles, even if certainly Reilly's, at the least, is extremely typical of him as an actor. This doesn't come too much into play though, as they are all so believable and Anderson has written such a great movie, that it sort of falls by the wayside. Also appearing briefly is Philip Seymour Hoffman (to my "annoyance"--he, too, is a regular in Anderson's movies, and everytime I hear "Paul Thomas Anderson regular" and "Philip" I have to stop and think which one they're referring to, and now he's in all three, so I don't even have that separation...oh well) in a wonderfully excitable small role as a loud, obnoxious gambler, who encourages Sydney to make a bet at a craps table, which he reluctantly does--on the same bet Jimmy remembers him for, $2,000 on the hard eight (two fours, if you're unfamiliar).

The end result? As with his other films, Hard Eight is absolutely worth seeing. And now, I look forward eagerly to There Will Be Blood, Anderson's latest film, especially with Daniel Day-Lewis and Kevin J. O'Connor in it.