Hard Eight

Hard Eight (1997) is a crime drama you can watch online on iFILM. It marks the feature debut of Paul Thomas Anderson, who would go on to make Magnolia and There Will Be Blood.

John is broke outside a roadside diner, having lost everything at the tables. An older man named Sydney buys him coffee and a cigarette, then makes a curious offer: he will teach the kid how to make money gambling. Two years pass. John becomes a sharp player, the cash flows, and something close to a father-son bond forms between them. Then a cocktail waitress named Clementine walks in, and Sydney's own past starts to surface. Philip Baker Hall plays the old man with a calm that quietly unnerves you. Around him are John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, Samuel L. Jackson and a brief, memorable turn from Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Reno, neon, motels, empty casino floors at dawn: Anderson shoots Nevada with no glamour at all. A patient, low-key noir about guilt that can never be wagered back. Stream Hard Eight (1997) online on iFILM.