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Hard Eight
Metascore
78 out of 100

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 12 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 14
  3. Negative: 1 out of 14
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  1. The A.V. Club
    Reviewed by: Keith Phipps
    100
    One of the best films of the year.
  2. Los Angeles Times
    Reviewed by: John Anderson
    100
    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.
  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Joe Leydon
    90
    Four excellent lead performances, vividly evoked ambience and a masterfully sustained mood of quiet desperation mark Sydney as an impressive piece of work.
  4. Chicago Reader
    Reviewed by: Jonathan Rosenbaum
    90
    Impressive for its lean and unblemished storytelling, but even more so for its performances.
  5. Chicago Sun-Times
    Reviewed by: Roger Ebert
    88
    Movies like Hard Eight remind me of what original, compelling characters the movies can sometimes give us.
  6. The New York Times
    Reviewed by: Stephen Holden
    80
    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.
  7. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Kevin McManus
    80
    Paul Thomas Anderson shows off the same sort of quirky smarts that Joel and Ethan Coen did in "Blood Simple."
  8. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    75
    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]
    All this critic's reviews
  9. ReelViews
    Reviewed by: James Berardinelli
    75
    There's something almost hypnotic about the way Hard Eight develops -- even in its slowest, most tedious moments, it keeps our attention.
  10. Entertainment Weekly
    Reviewed by: Owen Gleiberman
    75
    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.
  11. Austin Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Russell Smith
    67
    Hall, one of our least appreciated great actors, is mesmerizing as Sydney.
  12. The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
    Reviewed by: Rick Groen
    63
    The plot is bare-bones stuff, weak in story line and bereft of motivation.
  13. TV Guide
    Reviewed by: Maitland McDonagh
    50
    Ultimately, the material is so familiar that it's hard to work up any enthusiasm for another trip though the seamy underside of glittering gaming life.
  14. San Francisco Chronicle
    Reviewed by: Ruthe Stein
    25
    Noirish thrillers live or die by their plot twists and dialogue -- talk literally being cheap compared to action shots. Unfortunately, the script by first-time filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson fails on both counts.
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User Reviews

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User Score
7.5 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 8 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 3
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 3
  3. Negative: 0 out of 3
  1. Justinavery7074
    10
    **** is this movie great. There are only a few number of filmakers that have a flawless track record. And PT Anderson is definitely one of those. Because this film has some great characters. ANd it has everything that Ocean's Eleven should've had.… Full Review »
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