Hustle

What a shame. This is a great story about a great baseball player and this movie couldn't have been worse. Let's start with the acting. It was a pile of junk. If Tom Sizemore ever turns in a worse performance he should quit acting and take up ballet. This film was horribly written, terribly directed. It was all over the place. This is supposed to be the story about Pete Rose who gambled on baseball which kept him out of the hall of fame even though he holds the record for the most career hits but this was all about drug scandals. I wish I could provide viewers of this film with some sort of reparations. Its stupid, boring and pathetic. Do yourself a favor, never see this movie.

0 stars, no thumbs up

Because I'm a sports fanatic and few athletes are better suited for a biography movie than Pete Rose, I was initially excited about seeing this movie. But I became skeptical when learning that it was made by ESPN. Although I generally enjoy that station, I was colossally disappointed in the only movie of theirs I'd previously seen, their debut, 2002's "A Season on the Brink." That movie is a painfully shallow and amateur adaptation of John Feinstein's outstanding chronicle of Indiana University's 1985-86 men's basketball team.

But "Hustle" shows that ESPN is already making good progress in movie making. Though not a masterpiece, it's a solid presentation of the downfall of Rose, who set dozens of Major League Baseball records but was banned for life from MLB for betting on his hometown Cincinnati Reds while he was managing that team.

"Hustle" takes place from October, 1986 - the month that Rose's playing career ended - until August 24, 1989, the day of his banishment. He managed the Reds, the team for which he played most of his career, during that entire period. Unlike most sports biography movies, this one has little on the field action and assumes that the viewer is already familiar with Rose's career accomplishments.

Instead, "Hustle" concentrates largely on Rose's gambling, which he has long taken to an obsessive level and says is his only hobby. The movie is based on John Dowd's investigation, which led to Rose's banishment. In the movie, Rose (played by Tom Sizemore) is shown as gambling with the relentless competitive fire that made him a fan favorite on the field. In one of the early scenes, he is simultaneously watching three games, all of which he has presumably bet on, and cheers wildly, as if his team is playing in the games.

But the dark side of Rose's gambling is shown early and often. He routinely bets $10,000 per MLB game, including those involving the Reds, who he always bets to win. In one scene, the scoreboard at the Reds' then home, Riverfront Stadium, is broken and Rose is clearly uncomfortable with not being able to see the scores of the other games on which he has money at stake.

He piles up big losses in his bets, many of which are illegal, and sometimes doesn't pay quickly enough to satisfy those to whom he owes money. This results in the mafia threatening Rose's friend Paul Janszen (Dash Mihok), who places Rose's bets for him.

Janszen gets progressively more uncomfortable with his unsafe position but the police get to him before the mafia does. Janszen is arrested for dealing steroids and tells the media of Rose's gambling on his team's games. MLB's highest officials confront Rose about the allegations, which he strongly denies. But Dowd's investigation shows otherwise.

Though the movie is somewhat modestly produced, it does a good job at showing Rose behind the scenes. Sizemore bears only a slight resemblance to Rose and doesn't sound like him at all but does very well at copying Rose's personality, posture and mannerisms. (This is a welcome contrast to the aforementioned "A Season on the Brink," in which Brian Dennehy is almost completely unconvincing as Bob Knight.) And Melissa DiMarco is good as Rose's wife, Carol, who fears that her husband's gambling threatens their financial security and tries to get him to stop. And from what I understand, the information given in the movie is generally accurate, which is often not the case in sports biography movies.

During his more than 40 years as a celebrity, Rose - crass, arrogant and marginally educated but also a passionate and aggressive overachiever - has provoked lots of mixed emotions. "Hustle" gives us about as comprehensive a look at this very intriguing man as could be expected in a low budget 90 minute made for TV movie. And it gives me much more hope for future ESPN movies than I had before.

And the DVD is jam packed with bonus features on Rose, which, combined with the movie, make the DVD and excellent value. 7/10. (The rating is based only on the movie, not on any of the DVD's other features.)

Tragic story of a man who had everything fame money a beautiful wife and the love of millions upon millions of baseball fans. Only to throw it all away due to his addiction to gambling and his inability to face and confront his demons. Like he was able to face and connect on a hard slider or sharp curve ball in the batters box.

After breaking Ty Cobbs' record of 4,191 lifetime hits on September 11, 1985 Pete Rose, Tom Sizemore, was guaranteed a special place in Baseballs Hall of Fame with the likes of Ty Cobb Babe Ruth Walter Johnson and Joe DiMaggio. Rose went on to blow his chance in just three short years after his retirement in 1986. A sick and compulsive gambler Rose went beyond the usual betting on horses basketball and football game but betting on Baseball. Worst of all,in the spring and summer of 1987, the Cincinnati Reds while he was the teams manager.

The movie "Hustle" picks up on Pete Rose becoming the Red's manager after a 23 years career as a major League Baseball player. During that time he set some dozen records, including a record 4,256 lifetime hits, that may never be broken. Surrounded by gofers and wannabe friends Pete the Great, also known as Charlie Hustle, has no trouble getting them to do his bidding. Which was mostly placing his bets with mob-controlled bookies which soon ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. One of these flunkies was the shy and insecure Paulie Janszen, Dash Mihok. Janszan was so thrilled that the great man would even look at him, much less consider him a friend, that he's easily manipulated into calling in Roses bets, always as markers, on horses and sporting events. Janszan used mob bookie Ron DeLapane, Alex Karzis, to book the bets with him being purposely left out in the cold by his good friend Pete. The Baseball super star turned out to be both unconcerned and lazy to come through with the cash if he lost on his bets.

We See in the movie, like in real life, Rose degenerate into a lying and helpless gambler as he also starts to cheat on his wife Carol, Melissa DiMarco,while on long road trips with the Reds. Rose like most sick gamblers seems to have no feelings for those who stick their necks out for him leaving Paulie in debt to the mob bookies for some $30,000.00 that he placed for the, what looked like, future Baseball Hall of Famer. Paulie pleading with his hero to get him out of the fix that he got him into has the indifferent Rose anything but concerned for his and his families health and safety. Rose finally gives him, just to get Paulie out of his hair, a check that's actually a loan of $10,000.00. While at the same time neglecting to give Paulie the $30,000.00 that he owes him for the bets he secretly booked for him. This last and condescending action to placate Paulie ,who up until then just about had it with Rose, for all the trouble that he got him into with his obsessive gambling was definitely the straw that broke the camels back. With that Paulie went straight to the FBI who already were about to indite him, on both drug trafficking and illegal book making.

Looking more like Moe Howard of the Three Stooges, for the first half of the movie until he got himself a new haircut, then Pete Rose Tom Sizemore does a component job as the former Red All Star infielder being both personable as well as sleazy at the same time. Dash Mihok is both likable and at the same time psychotic as Rose's best buddy Pauie Janszen who comes to his senses only when he's confronted with getting his brains beat in by the mob and his a**. Paulie also comes to his senses with the fear of being thrown into a federal penitentiary for some 10 to 15 years by the FBI.All that for him being so taken up by Rose in not only breaking the law for the Baseball legend but brainlessly taking the consequences for his crimes as well.

It was after Paulie passed an FBI lie-detector test that he went to Sports Illustrated magazine with the story about Pete Roses sick and despicable gambling habits. Paulie also had a lot to say how Rose treated him as a pasty to be thrown to the wolves, or the mob and FBI, when he couldn't make up his losses to the bookies. This alerted the Baseball commissioner Bartlett Glamatti ,Geore DiCenzo, into after having a heart to heart talk with Rose and then had special investigator John Dowd, Rick Reed, make a complete report of Paulie's allegations.

The truth sadly came out in the Dowd Report that Rose was indeed betting on Baseball games with the records of hundreds of telephone calls from the Reds managers offices unlisted phone, that only Pete Rose had access to. The phone calls were made to both Paulie and his main bookie DeLapane to who Rose bet an astounding 52 Cincinnati Red games. Pete Rose was banned from Baseball by Commissioner Giamatti on August 24, 1989, ironically just a week before Giamatti died from a massive heart-attack at the age of 51.

With that Rose's chances to ever be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame went down the drain together with the love and respect of millions of Baseball fans, that he earned over the years. Including Paulie Janszan who risked both his life and freedom in putting in Roses illegal bets and ending up being the person who both exposed and brought him down to reality and disgrace.

This has to be one of the worst movies ever put on film. 1) Tom Sizemore doesn't even look anything the Pete Rose. He looked as bad as a good SNL skit. 2) Let me get this straight, according to the movie, Pete Rose a 5 foot 8 200 pound soaked and wet, was able to push around the bookies, the mob, Major League Baseball, and a bodybuilder.

Now I know Pete Rose has come out and admitted he bet on baseball...duh...no one is disputing that, but the way it is shown in this film, it made you think ESPN had some sort of grudge against Pete Rose. Michael Moore gave President Bush more leeway.

Unfortunately you cannot give anything lower than a 1 or else I would give is a -4256 (That is Pete's all time hit total)

As other users have said Sizemore was nothing more than a "Jay Leno impersonation" of Rose - only the haircut even remotely resembled the real Pete Rose. Moreover, Dash Mihok (who portrayed Paul Janszen) looked more like the real Rose. But casting error aside, the movie was genuine to its subject matter.

"Hustle" was an apt name playing off Rose's nickname "Charlie Hustle" in order to reference his gambling habits. Anyone who says the movie lacked because it didn't revere Rose for his baseball accomplishments is missing the point. The movie was about latter-life Pete Rose the gambler, not a biopic in general on the "greatest thing to ever happen to Cincinatti." Also, some criticize the film for not exploring avenues of Rose's colleagues; however, while Eric Davis was a background character and other famous Reds were mentioned, said colleagues' consent is required to have their likenesses and views to be used.

Furthermore, not even Rose himself confessed to his illegitimate activities until the beginning of this year.Before making any criticism, viewers should research.

As for the story itself, the one problem I noted was that the screenplay couldn't clearly delineate who was the protagonist. While Rose was clearly meant to be the 'villain,' focus and sympathy shifted between him and Janszen so much so that near the end, the movie may have been more appropriately entitled "Paul Janszen." Of course, ESPN would NOT have been able to sell that.