“Hard Eight” is a movie about the gambler’s life and the people who live it, and also the people who live around its edges. But the film is also about the mystery of human behavior, the ...

even if you’ve never heard of the star or seen any of his movies. That’s certainly the case in “Hard Eight” although the star isn’t, as you’ve been informed, either Gwyneth Paltrow ...

Hard-faced, silent and self-assured mystery character Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) happens upon a bloodless wanderer John (Reilly) one day at a diner and invites him for a ciggie and a dose of ...

John has lost all his money. He sits outside a diner in the desert when Sydney happens along, buys him coffee, then takes him to Reno and shows him how to get a free room without losing much money.

Even with Anderson’s thinnest plot, Hard Eight is pretty great. The movie has early traces of his signature flair: stylish tracking shots, piercing close-ups, expressive monologues, and a story ...

Paul Thomas Anderson’s movies are about makeshift families ... Anderson’s first film, the remarkably confident crime thriller Hard Eight, is no exception. In fact, the phrase “crime thriller ...