The Hustler (1961, dir. Robert Rossen)

A young pool shark struggles to find himself in the world. Still-effective if slightly stagey drama from the Walter Tevis novel, balancing a faltering love story (perhaps too prominent in the mix) with pool hall and backroom dive bar action. Looks great, and the performances are fun throughout, not least George C Scott’s sly fixer. A sequel followed a generation later.

Here’s the trailer.

White Boy Rick (2018, dir. Yann Demange)

The true story of Rick Wershe, drug dealer and teen FBI informant. Intriguing spin on the rise-and-fall story, focusing on the latter; good performances, and director Demange again shows he can handle drama, action, genre, character actors and period detail.