One of the finest movies ever made and having some of the greats act it in seals the deal. It is too close to real life and that is why it has your attention no matter what they are doing on screen. Pool halls, people who hang around them, people who play pool, women, gambling, and lots of human nature make the viewer identify with the movie many times throughout the film. You see, it is not about anyone special, just someone out there who has a story to tell and it is a doozy. People who grew up around this stuff give this movie respect and that should say it all to anyone considering watching this movie. I have seen it so many times and the mood, acting, story, directing and flow grab you each time and only let up occasionally, but not for long. If you are about to watch this, I envy your next 2 hours or so.

This is, without a doubt, the closest anything out of Hollywood ever came to touching the soul of a pool player. Paul Newman plays "Fast Eddie" Felson, a young player from California who travels east to take on the ultimate challenge: to beat "Minnesota Fats," played by the late Jackie Gleason. Willie Mosconi, probably the greatest pool player who ever walked the Earth, was technical adviser and choreographed many of the game sequences. On technical merit alone, this film is a pool player's classic. Beyond that, however, the way "Fast Eddie" takes to his skills and relationships pushes this film out as a classic for the general audience. In one scene, he is describing what it is like to be really good at something. It is one of the best speeches about excellence I have ever heard. This is one of my top three films. On a scale of ten, I give it an eleven.