Hard Eight (a.k.a Sydney) (UK)
When good luck is a long shot, you have to hedge your bets
Certificate: 15
Running Time: 98 mins
Retail Price: £19.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Sydney (Philip Baker Hall - Psycho) is a poker-faced professional gambler
with a soft heart for a hard luck story. He plays guardian angel to unlucky
John (John C. Reilly - The Thin Red Line) and a hooker, Clementine (Gwyneth
Paltrow – Shakespeare In Love), whom he grows to love like family. When John
and Clementine’s honeymoon night leads to a disastrous hostage situation,
Sydney takes care of it, as usual.
But when slick casino pro Jimmy (Samuel
L. Jackson – Star Wars: The Phantom Menace) threatens to reveal a secret
from Sydney’s past that could destroy his relationship with the newlyweds,
Sydney decides to hedge his bets and not leave anything to chance.
Special Features:
Interactive Menus
Scene Access
2 Commentaries
Isolated Soundtrack
Alternate Bonus End Credits Song "I Should`ve Known" by Aimee Mann)
Deleted Scene
Three Sundance Institute Filmmaker Lab scenes: "The Coffee Shop," "Jimmy
Threatens Sydney," and "The Phone Call"
Two Theatrical Trailers
Cast & Crew Bios
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 English
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 Spanish
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 German
Dolby Digital Surround 2.0 French
Subtitle Tracks:
French
Czech
Turkish
English
Spanish
German
Hungarian
Directed By:
Paul Thomas Anderson
Written By:
Paul Thomas Anderson
Starring:
Philip Seymour Hoffman
F. William Parker
Samuel L. Jackson
Gwyneth Paltrow
John C. Reilly
Philip Baker Hall
Casting By:
Christine Sheaks
Soundtrack By:
Michael Penn
Jon Brion
Director of Photography:
Robert Elswit
Editor:
Barbara Tulliver
Costume Designer:
Mark Bridges
Production Designer:
Nancy Deren
Producer:
Helene Mulholland
John S. Lyons
Daniel Lupi
Robert Jones
Executive Producer:
Keith Samples
François Duplat
Hans Brockmann
Distributor:
Columbia / Tristar
Your Opinions and Comments
John needs to raise $6,000 in order to pay for his mother`s funeral, but has managed to lose every penny in Vegas. It is at a truck stop that he meets Sydney, who offers to show John a way to make the money he needs, and together they head off back to Vegas to begin the process.
Two years on, John and Sydney find themselves in Reno, Nevada, where John meets and falls for waitress and part-time hooker Clementine (played by Gwyneth Paltrow). When their honeymoon turns into a desperate hostage situation Sydney has to step in to sort matters out.
To make things worse, John`s friend, Jimmy (played with usual brilliance by Samuel L. Jackson), threatens to reveal a dark secret from Sydney’s past that could jeopardise his relationship with John.
This European R2 disc is excellent. Presented in anamorphic 2.35:1, the video quality is great and the bright lights and colourful neon signs of Las Vegas and Reno look wonderful. Director Anderson employs some beautiful camera angles; check out the long Steadycam shot of Sydney walking through the casino at the start of chapter 10 for example.
Sound is also good, with surround tracks in a variety of languages. The film, like most of Anderson`s work, is very dialogue intensive. The centre channel is very clear and the surrounds are used to create atmosphere when needed.
This is a great disc for extras too. We are treated to three deleted scenes, three Sundance Institute Filmmaker`s scenes, two theatrical trailers, cast & crew bios and most interesting of all, two commentary tracks. The commentaries both feature Anderson who, as usual, gives a lot of insight into the creative process. The first commentary also features one of Anderson`s idols, Philip Baker Hall. The second commentary features Michelle Satter from Sundance Film, various crew, some isolated score and an alternative Aimee Mann track over the end credits.
For fans of P T Anderson this disc is an essential purchase. Even if you`ve never seen Boogie Nights or Magnolia (why not!), Hard Eight is a charming film with some fine performances and it can be purchased for around £14 from some European retailers. It may not be as polished or convoluted as Anderson`s more recent films, but you will not be disappointed.