Sidney, played by Philip Baker Hall, finds John, a homeless down and out man, and takes him under his wing. He teaches him some ways to beat the casinos and John becomes enamored with Sidney. Clementine, played by Gwyneth Paltro, a flirtatious casino waitress and part-time hooker, is also helped by Sidney, who wants to see her have a better life. John and Clementine get together, with Sidney working hard to keep the two from self-destructing. It's tough though. Jimmy, John's friend, played by Samuel L. Jackson, knows something about Sidney's past that is supposed to build some tension and keep viewers interested.

From the visually impaired point of view, ironically enough, this movie was pretty easy to follow. There were only four characters in this movie, all with distinct voices and very different personalities. Unlike most movies, this one started out with simple, clear dialogue for about ten minutes, which helped immensely in understanding the development of the story line. The music was not intrusive. There were only two or three scenes without dialogue. Still, I did need a sighted assistant for these times.

Not much problem following this one, but not much reason for wanting to. Funny how "The English Patient," winner of nine Academy Awards, was so difficult to follow, and a movie like "Hard Eight," a worthless piece of junk as far as I'm concerned, would be so easy to follow. Well, I guess that's what makes these movie reviews so important for visually impaired people. I love it when there's a great movie and it turns out to be very easy for us, the visually impaired, to follow. Let's hope we get a few of those in the near future.