In this film, luckless destitute gambler John meets suave and seemingly kind-hearted Sydney, a successful professional gambler. Sydney offers to teach John all his gaming secrets, and the lessons begin back in Reno. Unfortunately, while Sydney knows how to be restrained, John is a loose cannon.

As ''Hard Eight'' tracks the mentor-protege relationship that Sydney cultivates with a gravity befitting Rod Serling introducing ''The Twilight Zone,'' the movie smells like one of David Mamet's fiendish stories of grifters embroiled in tricky games of cat and mouse. But Paul Thomas Anderson, who wrote and directed the movie, which is his first feature film, has other things on his mind. Sydney's motives aren't revealed until the film is almost over. Let it suffice to say they have to do with guilt and with a warped, grandiose sense of honor.

One of the many strengths of this beautifully controlled, slow-moving film is that the revelations come as a complete surprise at the same time that they make psychological sense. Not only that, but Mr. Hall's portrayal of a mysterious father figure whose air of unbreachable solemnity borders on caricature is in keeping with who Sydney turns out to be.

• dir: Paul Thomas Anderson

• Year: 1996

• country: US

• run-time: 1h 47mins

• rating: 18

Full £6.00

Concession: Pay What You Can

Doors 19:30 - Film 20:00