Original subtitles

(upbeat music)

(vocalizing music)

(soft dramatic music)

(birds chirping)

(dog barking)

(soft piano music)

(dog barking)

(envelope opening)

- Dear Red Shoes,

I have a brand new motto that might help you.

Risk all to gain all.

- [Hustler Voiceover] Sometimes you gamble and lose.

Sometimes you gamble and win.

All I can say is that sometimes your worst nightmare

can end up being your salvation.

At least that's the way it turned out for me.

(thundering rolling)

You see, I'm one of those women who's kinda pretty

and who's kinda always been taken care of by men.

(lightning striking)

In fact, I'll go as far as to say my entire identity

was defined by the man I was with at the time.

There was no me.

I was just a prop.

(soft piano music)

My one and only skill,

the one and only thing I truly excelled at,

was shooting pool.

(soft piano music)

I learned how to shoot from my father.

During the long winter months, we'd play it

almost every night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday.

Anyway, to make a long story short,

Carl, the last guy I was with, brought me to LA.

(soft dramatic music)

Things went bad, and I finally found

the strength to break away.

With no money.

No plane ticket home.

(door knocking)

(lightning striking)

(soft dramatic music)

No way to pay the rent.

I had no skills.

No place to live.

No way to exist.

(rain falling)

(soft piano music)

Anyway, after three days on the street,

I realized I was down to two choices.

(soft piano music)

To hustle the streets.

(soft piano music)

Or to hustle pool.

(soft dramatic music)

- Fucking hustler, I'm gonna teach you a lesson, bitch!

- Come on, take my hand, take my hand.

Just run.

(screaming)

You got it, get outta the way.

- [Man] Come back here, man.

- The truck, jump in the back of the truck.

On three.

One, two, three, come on.

Drive, drive man, just drive.

(groaning)

- Thank you.

- [Hustler Voiceover] And just when everything started

to work, I found myself back where I started.

Back in the arms of a total stranger.

- See, baby, that's the way it's done.

If you wanna hustle pool,

you gotta work on your game day and night.

The higher the stakes, the tougher the competition.

Now remember,

you gotta give a little every now and then.

You gotta lose a few.

Give them a chance to get their money back.

(soft music)

Buy them a few beers.

Whatever it takes, make them feel comfortable.

On the other hand,

you could cut the process short,

team up with me.

Catch my drift?

(soft piano music)

- Thanks, but no thanks.

I've had enough teachers.

- Right, teachers suck.

I'm not talking teacher, hon, I'm talking becoming a team.

Let me ask you a question before you go.

Where are you gonna sleep tonight?

(soft piano music)

Don't you think I know you're broke.

I didn't mean to, but I've been watching you.

For whatever reason, you're not rock solid.

So I'm gonna ask you the question again.

Where are you gonna sleep tonight?

- I don't have a place to stay.

- It's okay.

It's good to hit rock bottom every once in a while.

Makes you appreciate the things you do have.

(soft music)

Stay here tonight.

All right?

Get you a shower, get a good night's sleep.

You take the bed,

and I'll take the floor.

No hype, no pressure, no obligations, okay?

(soft romantic music)

- It's cold over there on the floor.

Draft coming in from under the door.

Guess I'm just not used to it.

Guess I'm just used to my big, wide,

soft, warm bed.

(soft romantic music)

What I was thinking is,

like I said it's a pretty wide bed.

And if you move over there,

we could sort of share it, not touch you or anything.

But I could sleep on this side.

You're right, bad idea, bad idea.

(soft romantic music)

- Bottom line, we work as a team.

You put up the stake, I pay you back

out of our first winnings.

After that, we split everything 50-50.

You pay for your own food, I pay for mine.

Same goes for hotels,

laundry,

everything we do.

Got it?

- Got it.

(upbeat blues music)

(crowd cheering)

(upbeat blues music)

- Eight ball, side pocket.

I love this song.

Come on, guys, I got lucky.

Sometimes you get lucky, what do you want?

Come on, hey, let me buy you a beer, all right?

Come on, please.

I tell you what.

You don't wanna play one on one, double or nothing.

You guys team up, all right.

Tell you what, I'll go out, pick somebody at random.

You, girls, hey.

They could blindfold me, all right?

Blindfold me.

(upbeat blues music)

Ah, yes.

Yes, yes.

(upbeat blues music)

Hello, where am I, where am I, hello.

Oh, okay.

Anybody, pick somebody, please.

Are you somebody?

Oh, are you somebody, anybody?

Anybody at random, I said.

Oooh, wow, who are you, are you somebody?

- Who are you?

I know this game, I know this game, I know this game.

Hey, hey, you're exhausted.

Wait, over here, over here, over here, over here.

- [Tommy] Anybody, I said anybody, please somebody.

- I know you.

I know you from somewhere.

- Hey, this is nice.

Who are you?

(laughing)

- Ahhhh.

Oh, baby, ahhh.

- I'll take her, I'll take her.

- I'll take you, baby.

- Huh, huh?

- Let's go over here.

- Come over here, over here, over here, sweetie.

Sorry, come over here.

Over here, over here, okay.

Okay, honey, this is the table.

It's called a pool table.

- Okay, Mississippi, you promised.

M-I-S-I double S-E.

Now wait.

Okay, New York.

N-E,

I see you.

(laughing)

(upbeat music)

Whoo.

(upbeat music)

Watch this, okay, I can do this.

I can do this, I can get it, just watch.

Hey, let me do it.

(upbeat music)

Ready?

One, two, three.

(ball falling)

(screaming)

I got it.

(upbeat music)

Batter batter batter batter, swing.

- [Tommy] Yeah, you'll get it.

(upbeat music)

- [Hustler Voiceover] For Tommy and me,

seemed like we were always hustling.

Always laughing.

Always running.

We were a team.

We couldn't get enough of each other.

Night after night.

Hustle after hustle.

Me and Tommy together, as equals.

Money kept flowing,

and so did the adrenaline.

Til we reached a level we never experienced.

(dramatic music)

(screaming)

I couldn't get enough.

I just couldn't get enough.

I could not get enough.

(dramatic music)

I couldn't get enough.

(soft romantic music)

(soft piano music)

- What are you thinking?

- You really wanna know?

- Mm-hmm.

- That last hustle.

The six-ball, you were lucky.

It went in by mistake.

If I were you, I woulda put a little English on it,

lightened up on the stick.

(soft music)

- Get up!

- [Tommy] What are you talking about?

- Now!

You against me, teacher, your winnings against mine.

- Forget about it.

(cue striking)

(soft music)

All right.

Wanna lose your money?

- [Hustler] Right.

- You got it.

Call it.

- Tails.

- You lose.

(soft piano music)

Button your shirt.

(soft romantic music)

All right, now put a little English on it.

This is the exact shot we were talking about.

What?

What the hell are you doing?

- You are not my teacher!

- What the heck does that mean?

- [Hustler] No.

- [Tommy] No what?

- [Hustler] No more.

- Slow down, no more what?

- No more.

- Please, come on.

- Put English on the ball, button your shirt.

Unbutton your shirt, no more!

- Talk to me. - No.

- Talk to me! - No!

(crying)

- All my life, I've had people,

men, looking after me.

Until I was just this shell, you know.

Then that shell cracked.

And I came alive.

Then you came along.

Suddenly, I'm owing you.

I don't want that anymore.

- [Hustler Voiceover] I know it was irrational.

But I couldn't help myself.

I needed my independence.

I couldn't go back to who I was before.

(ball falling)

(soft piano music)

Making it on my own became an obsession.

And Tommy,

Tommy, sweet,

beautiful

vulnerable Tommy.

(soft romantic music)

Tommy the right man,

who happened to come along at the wrong time.

(soft romantic music)

(traffic passing)

- [Waitress] So why don't they give blonds a lunch break?

- I don't know, why?

- Because they don't want to retrain them every day.

(soft music)

- I figured it out.

I wanna play you, Tommy.

Beating you is the only way I can

be with you and still be me.

- I missed you too.

(soft romantic music)

Call it.

- I'm better than you, baby.

If I play you, I'll win, and I'll lose you

all over again, and I don't wanna do that to myself.

- Call it!

(soft piano music)

- What's this gonna prove, huh?

Pool is a game.

In games, somebody wins, somebody loses.

It's got nothing to do with love.

- Call it.

- In love, you give, you take,

you share, whatever it takes.

(soft piano music)

- Call it.

- Going about this the wrong way.

- Call it.

(soft music)

- Tails.

(soft piano music)

- My break.

(soft piano music)

Five ball, side pocket.

- What are the stakes?

- My soul, you win, you got it.

One ball, corner pocket.

- And if I lose?

- No more preaching, no more teaching.

- That's it, that's it, I'm outta here.

- See, that is my point.

- What is your point?

- It's okay for me to succeed

as long as you're in charge of it.

- What am I in charge of, huh?

I don't even own a car.

I don't even have a steady girlfriend, I never have.

Never wanted one, til I met you.

And you coming back here and busting my balls

makes me understand why.

Now, if you had come in here and said,

the stakes are my baggage,

then I woulda been in in a flash.

- You wanna play, I'll play for anything you want.

- Okay, great, perfect.

You win, you call the shots.

I win, out goes the baggage, out the door,

the door closes on the past.

You deal with me, for who I am,

day by day, as it goes down.

(soft music)

(ball falling)

(soft music)

Eight ball, corner pocket.

No more baggage.

When it's love, you give, you take, you share.

Whatever it takes.

Okay?

Come on.

Okay?

(upbeat dramatic music)

(soft romantic music)

- And for Tommy and me,

I think our days of hustling are almost over.

And what we do next is important

but not as important as the way I feel inside.

Starting with self-respect.

For the first time in my life, I feel like I have it all.

Get my drift?

Seriously, Red Shoes, sometimes that's the only way out.

(soft romantic music)