Kerux: a portfolio of Calvin Theological Seminary - Volume 43.1 - 22 Sep 2008

Go And Sin No More

A Good Friday Story in Hard Eight

by Mic Altena

Tucked inside Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1996 Hard Eight is a poignant illustration of the Good Friday story. As the opening credits close, we find a disheveled John Finnegan (played by John Reilley) huddled against the cold pavement along a truck stop diner. He is offered a cup of coffee and cigarette by a stranger named Sydney. Sydney (Philip Baker Hall) befriends John and eventually helps him pay his outstanding debts through casino gambling.

Two years later we meet the pseudo-father/son pair in a Las Vegas casino. John falls in love with a cocktail waitress, the sweet Clementine (Gwyneth Paltrow) and marries her in a roadside wedding chapel. Clementine, however, succumbs to the temptation to return to her old life of fast cash in exchange for sex in cheap motel rooms. When a client refuses to pay, John beats the man unconscious and holds him hostage. John entangles his street-savvy friend Jimmy in the crisis. Jimmy (Samuel L. Jackson) provides a gun before fleeing the hostage scene. John calls for Sydney’s assistance, and when Sydney arrives, he quickly urges his friends to leave the motel room to avoid the harsh legal ramifications of their actions. As Sydney escorts John and Clementine to safety, he reassures them of his complete financial care for them, "I’ll get you more as you need it – as much as I have, as much as you’ll need. Understand? As much money as I have."

Sydney’s selfless act is sharply contrasted in the following scene which occurs three days later: Jimmy demands $10,000 from Sydney to conceal his knowledge of Sydney’s cold-blood murder of John’s father in Atlantic City a decade ago. Jimmy screams, "So you think you can just walk through this life ... without being punished for it?" Sydney murders Jimmy, rationalizing his actions with the idea that it is better to preserve John and Clementine’s perception of him than to shatter the new life of forgiveness and grace they have learned from Sydney.

Anderson surrounds Hard Eight with the story of Christ’s birth. The sound of distant Christmas carols can be heard as Sydney and John drink their first cup of coffee together in the opening scene a truck stop; it is Christmastime. When the movie fast forwards two years, it is Christmastime again. The traditional Christmas carol "Silent Night" can be heard as Sydney and Clementine drink their first cup of coffee in Las Vegas. And as the ending credits begin, Aimee Mann sings, "It’s Christmas again, December is here / What did you wish for what did you fear / Look at your behavior looking for a savior." Between these proclamations of a Savior is where Hard Eight takes place.

Sydney has received complete forgiveness for his transgressions through the death of a messiah. Hard Eight’s messiah is John’s father, the one whom Sydney murdered. Writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson powerfully illustrates the extremely personal nature of our sins – we alone are responsible for Christ’s death; our sins caused Christ to suffer. But through Christ’s victory over death believers claim complete forgiveness.

When the Messiah was raised to life three days after his death, believers responded by dedicating their lives to the sharing of the risen Christ’s love and mercy. Although Sydney gives into the temptation to murder Jimmy, Sydney shares his resurrection forgiveness by helping John get back on his feet and by showing dignity and respect to the prostitute Clementine. Sydney in essence proclaims the Good News of Jesus Christ, "There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." Sydney helps John realize forgiveness for his transgression of holding Clementine’s client hostage by showing him a way out. He helps Clementine realize her forgiveness for her transgression of a life of prostitution by showing her wholeness in marriage to John. Sydney, John and Clementine have been pardoned from their broken lives into new Spirit filled lives, just as Christ offers us and the woman caught in adultery in John 8 pardon: "’...Has no one condemned you?’ She said, ‘No one, Lord.’ And Jesus said to her, ‘Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.’"