This is not really about pool although it's mainly set in seedy poolhalls. It's about character, or the lack of it, and the search for it, as cocky hustler Paul Newman (as charismatic as ever) learns the hard way that there is a cost to everything. Piper Laurie is outstanding as his lush of a girlfriend, and George C. Scott suitably oily as the promoter who takes him under his evil wing. But it's director Robert Rossen's eye for sordid detail and burned out lives which is what really catches the eye here. It looks truly amazing on Blu-ray; this is one of the best transfers of an older film that you're likely to see.