1996 film by Paul Thomas Anderson
Hard Eight (originally titled Sydney) is a 1996 American crime film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson in his feature directorial debut, and starring Philip Baker Hall, John C. Reilly, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Samuel L. Jackson. An expansion on Anderson's 1993 short film Cigarettes & Coffee, it follows the bond between a senior gambler and a homeless man. It premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival.
The film's title refers to a "hard eight," a wager in the casino game of craps that the shooter will roll two fours before a seven or any other combination totaling eight.
Plot summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.