Newman, Gleason and Scott, oh my

I have an odd relationship with classic films.
Movie reviewers should love ’em unconditionally, right?
But some golden oldies strike me as hopelessly dated. I can’t always buy into the critical boilerplate.
Intellectually, I understand why “Some Like it Hot” is a classic. But did I roll on the floor with laughter? Hardly.
And as heretical as it is to say, I’d take the pithy, low-scale charms of Steve Martin’s “Father of the Bride” over the original with Spencer Tracy.
Sacrilegious? Yup. Can’t help it.
But some classic films retain their potency. And how.
Take “The Hustler,” the 1961 film which established Paul Newman as a superstar.
Flat-out great. It’s dramatic pull remains as strong today as I imagine it was during its initial release.
Newman, as impossibly handsome as any Hollywood icon, plays a pool hustler who makes small-time money drifting from town to town. But he can’t hold onto his cash. His pool tricks pale in comparison with his ability to self-deconstruct. He finds redemption in the love of a troubled woman (Piper Laurie), but he's overmatched when he forms an alliance with a local gambler (George C. Scott).
All this drama doesn't even touch on Newman's duels with Minnesota Fats (the incomparable Jackie Gleason).

"The Hustler" only received two Oscars (Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction) despite a gaggle of nominations for its cast. "West Side Story" stole "The Hustler's" thunder that year.

Today's the perfect day to rent "The Hustler." It's everything an Oscar-worthy film should be, even if the voting didn't quite go its way more than four decades ago.