'Hard Eight' Spoiler Analysis

One of the definitions of gambling is “to take risky action in hope of a desired result.” This is what the mysterious character of Sydney is doing in Paul Thomas Anderson's debut, "Hard Eight." Sydney is a man who has been in the gambling business a long time and became very skilled at cheating the system, winning thousands. He eventually got caught up in some shady business and had to kill a man who is eventually revealed to be the father of John, the young man he is taking under his wing. Sydney has not done much good in his life and he is taking a risk in trying to help someone he has hurt, hoping that it will rid his guilt and that John won’t find out the truth. The opening shot of the film is John at the diner where the two first meet. Sydney knows John is there and who he is as he invites him for cigarettes and coffee, meaning he has been tracking him before this moment. All Sydney wants to do is help John make some money because he knows he needs it. He also knows that the man is without a father because Sydney took that from him and only wants to give it back. The viewer spends almost the whole film wondering why this mysterious man who seems to have been doing this for a long time is helping John, and when it is revealed, it becomes much more meaningful and gives insight into the Sydney character. Sydney hasn’t always been a murderer. If he had, he wouldn’t be taking one victim’s child under his wing out of guilt. He simply got caught in the addiction of gambling and winning, and in doing so, lost his own family and had to take that away from John after a presumably bad business deal. As the ending of the film will show, Sydney will do anything to keep this secret quiet. By killing the one man who knows the truth, Jimmy. With the final shot, Sydney covers up the blood on his sleeves just like he did with John’s father.