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Archives   Hard Eight  Hard Eight Movie Review  The man's face
is sad and lined, and he lights cigarettes as if he's been
living in casinos for centuries. He has a deep, precise voice:
We get a quick impression that he knows what he thinks and says
what be believes. His name is Sydney, and he has found an
unshaven young bum dozing against the wall of a coffee shop and
offered him a cup of coffee and a cigarette.  Why? The answer is
the engine behind the first half of "Hard Eight." I am not sure
it is ever fully answered, or needs to be. Sydney (Philip Baker
Hall) is a man who has been gambling for a long time, and knows
a lot about the subject, and shares his knowledge with the kid
because--well, maybe just because he has it to share.  The kid
is named John (John C.