Starring: Young Phillip Baker Hall (still old), John C. Reilly, Samuel L. Jackson, Phillip Seymour (Butts) Hoffman, Gwyneth (no middle name or initial listed) Paltrow
Premise: A prequel to Boogie Nights about a porn star with a slightly smaller wiener.
Quote: "This old guy gave me a Hard Eight! I'm talking about craps. We were playing craps." - Young Craps Player (Phillip Seymour Hoffman)
One Sentence Review: More like Hard GREAT!
In All Seriousness:
Hard Eight is not actually a prequel to Boogie Nights, and it also is not about the porn industry. It is however, directed and written by my favorite director: Paul Thomas Anderson. This was his first feature film, and probably his worst. But in my opinion his worst film is still very good. Despite the studio and producers giving him a really rough time throughout the entire production of this film, PTA still wrote and directed a really solid crime-drama. The entire cast give commendable performances, and the writing has a mixture of dark comedy and drama, which is expected from a PTA script. Although probably his least personal film due to the major studio interference, it still looks and feels like one of his films. For fans of Anderson, I'd say it's a must-see to be able to understand how he progressed since this first film of his. To anyone just looking for a good movie on a Tuesday night, I personally would say it's worth the hour and forty minutes. Then again, maybe I'm just biased.
~Ryan Moncrief
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