HARD EIGHT

1996 ***** 101 mins.

Writer/Director Paul Thomas Anderson announced his coming into the movie-making world with a flourish of slot machines in this absolutely spellbinding film about a professional gambler (Philip Baker Hall), who takes in a down-on-his-luck guy (John C. Reilly in his best performance to date) and teaches him the tricks of the trade. Enter a casino waitress/hooker (Gwyneth Paltrow) and another professional casino man (Samuel L. Jackson as slick as ever), and you have one of the greatest motion pictures ever made.
Rated R for language, violence, and sexual content.