The Real Hustler: Walter Tevis (2011)
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Extremely good documentary about Walter Tevis, the writer of THE HUSTLER, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH and THE COLOR OF MONEY. This 18-minute documentary can be found on the Blu-ray of THE HUSTLER and I was really shocked to see how honest and well-made it was. We get interviews with Tevis' widow, daughter and son so as soon as I saw this I thought we were going to be in for a watered-down tribute to the author but that wasn't the case at all. The main focus is on THE HUSTLER where they talk about how Tevis really was the Fast Eddie character played by Paul Newman. We hear about Tevis' early days, his marriage and of course his writing as well as his battle with alcohol. Fans of Tevis will really enjoy getting to hear all these personal stories from his family and those unfamiliar with his life story, myself included, are going to be in for an even bigger treat. This documentary does a very good job at detailing various aspects of his life and there's no question that by the end of this you feel as if you really know him.