“ I’m going to do whatever it takes to help my team win and I’m going to win MVP.”
“First of all I want to thank my teammates. It takes more than one person to win sixty games. Every time I walk into the locker room, I saw my teammates, they were ready to go, to fight, they were ready to go to war with me.” — Giannis Antetokounmpo
Sport plays a large role in our lives, whether you’re an active fan playing ESPN Fantasy or you watch casually on a lazy weekend. You might even not watch sport, but your day-to-day life is an extreme sport in itself. The films ‘The Hustler’ by Robert Rossen and ‘The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner’ by Tony Richardson have similar but contrasting themes. Both include the theme of sport, Pool in The Hustler and Cross Country Running in The loneliness of the long-distance runner.
The Hustler
The Hustler is about ‘Fast Eddie’ Felson (Paul Newman), a pool hustler who is incredibly talented at the pool but lucks ‘character’ and has a harsh attitude. He travels across the country with his partner Charlie hustling gamblers willing to put money on a supposedly ‘drunk’ Eddie trying to net a difficult shot. Planned well in advance, Charlie and Eddie use this to trick audiences into putting money into their pockets, Eddie using his incredible talent nets the shot and walks away with his pockets full of cash.

Eddie’s attitude, cunningness and ego sees him challenge the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason). Fats puts his skill on display, leaving Eddie in awe as he takes the first game in a breeze. Eddie keeping his ego, challenges Fats again — knowing Fats has the money Eddie wants. ‘Fast Eddie’ comes back, he starts putting together a win streak, and that’s where it goes downhill. Being so drunk, arrogant and selfish Eddie continues to challenge Fats, losing money and games as he is drunk. All the money Fats lost is earned back due to Eddie’s arrogance.
Things continue to become worse for Eddie, he meets Sarah Packard (later his girl-friend) and decides to team up with Bert Gordan (even after Bert demands 75% of the profit). Bert even tells Eddie about how he has incredible skill but no character and tells him he’s ‘a born loser’.

Bert seeing that Eddie is willing to challenge Fats again sees this as an opportunity to strike gold through Eddie. He organises a game against a local in Kentucky, however he organises a game of billiards not pool. Unfamiliar to the game, Eddie loses horribly and Bert refuses to keep ‘staking’ him. Sarah (who has come along with Eddie) pleads with Eddie to stop and come back with her but, Eddies arrogance takes over. He demands Bert to continue the game at $1000 a game. Incredibly Eddie wins $12 000 and takes his share of $3000. Arriving at the hotel after walking back, he finds his Girlfriend, Sarah has committed suicide with the words “perverted, twisted, crippled” written on a mirror with red lipstick. These are the same words she used to describe the people involved in the game of pool/billiards.
Eddie returns with anger through his body. He challenges the legendary Minnesota Fats once again, putting all his money ($3000) on one game. He wins again and again. He humiliates Fats and beats him so badly Fats decides to quit. Bert being a self-centred man demands Eddie gives him a share of the winnings. Eddie refuses, he says that if he not killed by one of Bert’s men he will kill Bert himself. Bert and Eddie order each other. Eddie compliments Fats as a tremendous player and walks out ‘free’.
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner
The Loneliness of the Long-Distance is about a boy Colin Smith who has an exceptional ability in Cross Country Running. His mood is shown to be grumpy and very troubled with anger. Although he has a troubled childhood, running away from the police after stealing/robbing places improved him as a runner.
Colin is sent to Borstal, for a robbery which him and his best friend Mike robbed a nearby bakery’s cashbox after Colin’s mother told them to not return until they earned some cash. Hiding the cash in the drains, Colin is investigated by the police. At the door the police are unable to find anything and are willing to let Colin go but unfortunately on a rain day, the rain washes the cash straight down and onto the road in front of the policeman.
Taken to Borstal Colin receives the same treatment as any other boy sent. He is given nothing but disrespect and is forced to obey orders and focus on improving through discipline and hard work. However, Colin is a disobedient man and plays ‘game’, the school however are oblivious to this. The Governor is impressed by Colin’s long distance running and to showcase his ‘athlete’ instructs to train Colin to win Cross Country against Ranley School.
Colin receives more leniency compared to other workers and is even granted permission to run freely outside the school as practise. However, with increasing leniency towards him, Colin realises how the school really is.
The race begins and Colin runs it out to become 1st place, beating the best runner from Ranley School. He is in pole position. As he approaches the finish line he receives flashbacks of his treatment. Treatment from his mother, the school, the police and the Governor. He even has flashbacks about his father’s death and the struggles he went through. Colin stops, allows Ranley School to run through. Smirks at the Governor and ends up back in the machine shops.

Comparison
Both films include the struggles of the main characters. Both characters go through hardships, but one comes out as a winner while the other remains a loser. On the ground/table both were winners in their sports. Eddie an excellent pool player, Colin with an unmatchable running ability.
Winner or Loser
In the Hustler, we can see how Eddie is a loser and a winner quite easily. The film portrays this very well and is well focused on this aspect rather than the actual game of pool. Eddie loss in the movie is shown though the suicide of his girlfriend Sarah as he is unable to care for her after she gives Eddie her love. His attitude towards the game also lost his lifelong friend in Charlie as Eddie cared more about the money then listening and looking out for his close ones. This shows Eddie’s ‘lack of character’ as mentioned by Bert.
His losing is only exemplified with his interactions with his close ones. His mood is always off and showcasing this mood to his friends only hinders his relationship. Portraying a off and angry tone in his voice also showcase how empty his character can be. Although Eddie does realise what he has done, it is mostly too late. Sarah his girlfriend has committed suicide, and his long-time friend Charlie has left after being lashed out by Eddie.
Eddie won in the sporting aspect of his life. He earnt thousands of dollars in cash, proved himself to be a true hustler of the game and beat arguably the best pool player in the country, Minnesota Fats. However, he wasn’t able to win in life, he lost the closest people in his life and wasn’t able to build a character. Shadowed by anger, arrogance and want for wealth Eddie is unable to build relationships. He masters the art of pool but does become a true winner.
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is somewhat the opposite. Similarities in Eddie and Colin are very evident with both having very moody and angry personalities. Colin’s life is portrayed as a stale downhill episode where after his father’s death he is hit with the expectation of earning for the family. Unwilling to be bossed around and wanting to ‘take control of his own life’. Although Colin’s mood is mostly the same as Eddie’s there is a major difference to the two of them when around close mates. Unlike Eddie, Colin’s mood completely changes when around his mates. He is seen to be livelier and more joyous, clearly expressed when he goes onto a picnic with his best friend, his best friends girlfriend and his own girlfriend.

“If you play ball with us, we’ll play ball with you.”
“I’m going to let them think they’ve got me house-trained, but they never will, those bastards.”
This behaviour shown by Colin also expresses his attitude to towards wanting a freer future. He wants to play hard game with the governor. He wants to display his rebellious behaviour however he wants to do it subtly. Colin wants to be the one in charge, the one who leaves the Governor hopeless. Just like all the students/workers at the school, all of them are left stranded and hopeless having to obey orders through their tenure. But the race against Ranley School allows Colin to change that. He is the one in charge. He is the hope of the Governor. His rebellious sneer shows it all.

Bibliography
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Medium. (2019). Characterization in The Hustler (1961). [online] Available at: https://medium.com/the-outtake/in-today-s-society-where-emphasis-on-individual-expression-is-constantly-threatened-by-f60b8e5400c [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
ilmsite.org. (2019). The Hustler (1961). [online] Available at: https://www.filmsite.org/hust.html [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Encyclopedia.com. (2019). The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner by Alan Sillitoe, 1959 | Encyclopedia.com. [online] Available at: https://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/loneliness-long-distance-runner-alan-sillitoe-1959 [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Rottentomatoes.com. (2019). The Hustler — Movie Quotes — Rotten Tomatoes. [online] Available at: https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/hustler/quotes/ [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].
Ebert, R. (2019). The Hustler movie review & film summary (1961) | Roger Ebert. [online] Rogerebert.com. Available at: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-the-hustler-1961 [Accessed 5 Nov. 2019].