| Hard Eight | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Produced by | Hans Brockmann, François Duplat, Keith Samples |
| Written by | Paul Thomas Anderson |
| Starring | Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson |
| Editing by | Barbara Tulliver |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | February 28, 1997 |
| Running time | 102 mins. Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26 1970 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated American Filmmaker. Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26 1970 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated American Filmmaker. Philip Baker Hall (born September 10, 1931) is an American Actor. John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an Academy Award - and two-time Golden Globe -nominated American Actor. Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27 1972 is an Academy Award - Golden Globe - and double Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21 1948 is an American Academy Award -nominated and BAFTA -winning actor Events 202 BC - coronation ceremony of Liu Bang as Emperor Gaozu of Han takes place initiating four centuries of the Han Dynasty 's rule Year 1997 ( MCMXCVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1997 Gregorian calendar |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Hard Eight is a 1996 film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow and Samuel L. Jackson. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Paul Thomas Anderson (born June 26 1970 is a five-time Academy Award -nominated American Filmmaker. Philip Baker Hall (born September 10, 1931) is an American Actor. John Christopher Reilly (born May 24, 1965) is an Academy Award - and two-time Golden Globe -nominated American Actor. Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27 1972 is an Academy Award - Golden Globe - and double Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American Samuel Leroy Jackson (born December 21 1948 is an American Academy Award -nominated and BAFTA -winning actor Robert Ridgely, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Melora Walters also appear. Robert Ridgely ( December 24, 1931 &mdash February 8, 1997) was an American Actor and vocal artist known for both on-camera Philip Seymour Hoffman (born July 23, 1967) is a BAFTA - Golden Globe - SAG - and Academy Award -winning American Melora Walters (born October 21, 1968) is an American Actress.
The film, originally titled Sydney, was Anderson's first feature; Hall, Reilly, Ridgely, Hoffman and Walters have acted in Anderson's subsequent films.
Plot
Sydney, a gambler in his 60s, sees a young man, John, sitting outside a diner and offers to give him a cigarette and buy him a cup of coffee. A diner is a prefabricated Restaurant building characteristic of North America, especially on Long Island; in New York City; in When Sydney learns that John is trying to get enough money for his mother's burial, he offers to take him to Las Vegas and teach him how to survive. Though skeptical at first, John eventually agrees.
Two years later, John, having gotten the money for the burial from Sydney, has stayed in Reno and become Sydney's protégé, and is attracted to 23-year-old Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow), a casino cocktail waitress revealed to be an occasional prostitute. Gwyneth Kate Paltrow (born September 27 1972 is an Academy Award - Golden Globe - and double Screen Actors Guild Award -winning American Prostitution is the act of performing Sexual activity in exchange for Money. Shortly after John and Clementine get married, Sydney gets a frantic late-night phone call and arrives at a motel to find the newlyweds holding hostage a customer who refuses to pay for Clementine's services. Afterward, Sydney advises John and Clementine to leave town and head to Niagara Falls for their "honeymoon". The Niagara Falls are massive Waterfalls on the Niagara River, straddling the international border separating the Canadian province of Ontario A honeymoon is the traditional holiday taken by newlyweds to celebrate their marriage in intimacy and seclusion
After the two leave, Sydney is confronted by Jimmy, a friend of John's who has worked security at various casinos in the past. Jimmy demands a large amount of money from Sydney, threatening to tell John the truth: that Sydney killed John's father. Sydney acquiesces, but sneaks into Jimmy's house later and shoots him.
Trivia
- According to Anderson, Rysher Entertainment attempted to re-edit the film but changed its mind after disappointing focus tests. Rysher Entertainment is the owner of TV and Film programming content primarily distributed around the world by CBS Television Distribution and CBS Anderson, with financial help from Paltrow and Jackson, was able to secure the film and release his version, which was retitled Hard Eight, per Rysher's request. Anderson notes in an interview that "Hard Eight" was supposed to sound like "Heartache"
- The film was expanded from a short film, Cigarettes and Coffee. Anderson was invited to the Sundance Institute Filmmaker Lab, where he took his expanded short script (then Sydney) and developed it under the Sundance banner. Cigarettes and Coffee starred Philip Baker Hall; Anderson met the actor while working as a production assistant on a made-for-television movie.
- In the 1988 movie Midnight Run, Philip Baker Hall has a small part as a man named Sidney who lives in Las Vegas and is part of the criminal underworld; all traits which happen to be shared with the man he plays in Hard Eight. Year 1988 ( MCMLXXXVIII) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar) For the Konami Arcade Racing game, see Midnight Run (video game. This seems to suggest the two characters could be one and the same.
- Jimmy mentions Floyd Gondolli and Jimmy Gator as people both he and Sydney know; Floyd Gondolli is the name of Hall's character in Boogie Nights, and Jimmy Gator is his character in Magnolia. This article is about the 1997 film For the Heatwave song see Boogie Nights. Magnolia is a 1999 American Drama film, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson.
- Michael Penn has said that Anderson was listening to his album Free-for-All while writing the script for Sydney, and that the director had spent months trying to get Penn to score the movie before he finally agreed to do it with producer, composer and songwriter Jon Brion. Michael Penn (born August 1, 1958, in Greenwich Village, New York City) is an American Singer and Songwriter Jon Brion (born December 11, 1963) is an American rock and pop multi-instrumentalist Singer, Songwriter, [1]
- The song that plays over the end credits is sung by Aimee Mann, who would later inspire and provide most of the music for Anderson's film Magnolia, and who is married to the above-mentioned Michael Penn. Aimee Mann (born September 8, 1960) is an American, rock Guitarist, bassist, Singer, and noted Songwriter
External links
- Sydney at the Internet Movie Database
Dapyx Software network: MP3 Explorer | Ebook Manager | Zenithic