He's not in the Hall of Fame, nevertheless, Pete Rose was still one of the best players in Baseball history. He played for an amazing 27 years, setting the all-time hits record, but this film ignores all of that. I'm a baseball fanatic and I find bio-pics, like this one, to be a great tool for learning more about the people who came before my time. Hustle was unfortunately very one sided and focuses entirely on Rose's activities after his playing career. Tom Sizemore stars as Rose and makes this film worth watching, he really does do a tremendous job, and that's the only reason this film is rated ad highly as it is. After doing some research, it turns out that the events in this film are historically accurate, but blown way out of proportion. Hustle makes Pete Rose look like a junior gangster, running around Cincinnati, ripping people off, and using anyone that he can find. The truth is that Pete Rose was a sick man with a gambling addiction. He got in over his head and yes, he started betting on his own sport and even the team he managed. Rose was never buddy buddy with the mafia, he never bet hundreds of thousands of dollars at one time, and he was never involved with drugs. This film makes a case that Pete Rose was a small time gangster in a baseball uniform and that's simply not true. The man had an addiction that he's been treated for. This addiction cost him his career, his status, and even his family. 25 years later, he's admitted to what he's done and has sincerely apologized. I personally think, it's been long enough and it's time to put the man in the Hall of Fame. It's also time for someone to do an accurate film depiction of Rose, that shows the good along with the bad, something Hustle simply doesn't do.

Hustle (2004) *** (out of 4) Peter Bogdanovich's story of Pete Rose (Tom Sizemore) and his fall from grace due to gambling. This has gotten all sorts of bad reviews but I rather enjoyed the film. It's certainly far from great but as a baseball fan I found it rather interesting. Bogdanovich's direction really keeps this above your typical TV movie but I guess most of the heat went towards Sizemore and his performance. Rose is such a legend that it would be impossible to really have any actor capture him on film. I think Sizemore gives a very good "performance", although it never really seems like Rose. Since I find it impossible to capture Rose, I think Sizemore did a good job creating a character. The ending is pretty depressing even though we now know the truth of what happened. The Hall of Fame has rapists, murderers, dead beat fathers, racists, alcoholics, druggies, cheaters so why not one gambler?

As a fan with an intense passion for the game of baseball, I can honestly say that nothing good comes from Tom Sizemore's slick portrayal of a beleaguered Pete Rose...a real scumbag. After watching this, it's easy to forget Rose's Hall-Of-Fame-like accomplishments on the field - captured by a handful of real-life clips at the top of the film. His slow decent into the world of degenerate gambling literally cost him - and almost everyone who he allowed get close to him - everything!! I almost felt sorry for Paul Janszen's character - smartly played by Dash Mihok (The Day After Tomorrow) - for his being so naive to the point where he just didn't see it coming. The bottom line being that, maybe other people do it, too, but Pete Rose got caught.

The naked facts of Pete Rose's life would seem to be the stuff thateven an imaginative writer might have trouble coming up with: major league baseball's all-time hits leader, a hometown boy whobecame a hometown AND national sports hero, a player whobecame an American icon for determination, grit and theembodiment of willpower.Then, for the traditional tragedy lover in all of us, comes the fall....atumble from living legend, to a man in public and possiblypersonal denial, finally ending for Rose banned from baseball aconvicted tax cheat and weepy self-confessed gambler. Unfortunately, "Hustle" seems to have missed every chance toextract even a scintilla of pathos from Rose's life, insteadconcentrating on a thin portrayal of the sordid events stemmingfrom his gambling addiction. Whether inside Pete Rose there's areally a significant inner person worthy of close examination is agood question, but it's a question that "Hustle" never even gets asniff of. A miscast Sizemore and a way past prime Bogdonavich togetherfail to create a single genuine moment.