Top 250 Challenge: 149

The Hustler (1961)
Number 180 on IMDb's Top 250

"Fast" Eddie Felson is a small-time pool hustler with a lot of talent but a self-destructive attitude. His bravado causes him to challenge the legendary "Minnesota Fats" to a high-stakes match, but he loses in a heartbreaking marathon. Hilarity ensues. Now broke and without his long-time manager, Felson faces an uphill battle to regain his confidence and his game. It isn't until he hits rock bottom that he agrees to join up with ruthless and cutthroat manager Bert Gordon. Gordon agrees to take him on the road to learn the ropes. But Felson soon realizes that making it to the top could cost him his soul, and perhaps his girlfriend. Will he decide that this is too steep a price to pay in time to save himself?

Trivia: All the pool shots in the movie are performed by the actors themselves (Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason) except one: the massé shot (cue ball sends two object balls into the same pocket), performed by Willie Mosconi, 14-time world champion in billiards from 1941 to 1957. There's a misconception that the character Minnesota Fats is based on the real Minnesota Fats (Rudolph Wanderone Jr.). Actually, the character came before the real pool champion. His professional nickname was originally New York Fats. He renamed himself after the character played by Jackie Gleason.

Once again, a movie surprises me and my preconceptions. I thought this movie was about a pool player, it isn't. It is about a man struggling against himself (Paul Newman) trying to prove how good he is, who meets a woman, struggling against herself (Piper Laurie) thinking that because she is lame (from childhood polio) nobody could love her. This disfunctional relationship is the catalyst of the movie, and eventually causes Fast Eddie's salvation.