The Hustler

With his friend Charlie Burns, "Fast" Eddie Felson has long earned whatever money he has as a pool shark, he and Charlie traveling the country hustling new unsuspecting targets at each stop. Against Charlie's wishes, Eddie wants to give up his anonymity to prove that he is the best by taking on the best, namely Minnesota Fats whose home pool hall is the Ames in New York City. Eddie knows he's talented, but gambler Bert Gordon, who Eddie meets at the Ames and who can also see that Eddie is talented, believes that Eddie needs more than talent to beat Fats. Bert wants to take Eddie under his wing to finance Eddie's challenge, not only against Fats, but against all comers, in turn showing Eddie the character that he is inherently missing to be the best. The price?: a seventy-five percent cut. As Eddie decides what to do with regard to Bert's proposal, Eddie begins a relationship with Sarah Packard, a woman who has as self-destructive tendencies as Eddie, she who is not averse to imbibing first thing in the morning. Being involved with Bert and Sarah may be incompatible in Eddie's current life, especially as Bert and Sarah see different things that Eddie needs for fulfillment, which do not include the other person.