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Hard Eight Review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

  • 4.0
    78

    out of 100

    Metascore®
    Generally favorable reviews
    based on a weighted average of all
    critic review scores.

  • 100

    out of 100

    Los Angeles Times John Anderson

    Anderson, who makes as impressive a directing debut as has been seen in some time, creates a perfectly modulated mystery that doesn't even feel like one. It's a character play, and Hall, Reilly and Paltrow are so convincingly damaged they take on the properties of fine china.

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  • 75

    out of 100

    USA Today Mike Clark

    We accept the sincerity and altruistic motives of the aging loner he (Philip Baker Hall) portrays in this consciously spare Nevada-set sleeper. [13 March 1997, p. 8D]

  • 75

    out of 100

    Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

    Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson crafts a plot of manipulation and chance, in which some zigs and zags are more convincing than others. Still, his feel for scuzz, for people living at the raw extremes of appetite, is palpable.

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  • 75

    out of 100

    ReelViews James Berardinelli

    There's something almost hypnotic about the way Hard Eight develops -- even in its slowest, most tedious moments, it keeps our attention.

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  • 80

    out of 100

    The New York Times Stephen Holden

    The role of Jimmy is one of Mr. Jackson's scarier characters, and this brilliant actor inhabits all four corners of his jittery, avaricious personality. When he and Sydney finally clash, the movie makes its darkest, cleverest turn into film-noir nightmare.

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  • 88

    out of 100

    Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

    Movies like Hard Eight remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.

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  • 90

    out of 100

    Variety Joe Leydon

    Four excellent lead performances, vividly evoked ambience and a masterfully sustained mood of quiet desperation mark Sydney as an impressive piece of work.

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  • See all Hard Eight reviews at Metacritic.com

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