The Color of Money (1986)

Touches You

Just what I expected

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

This movie is an excellent movie about pool and makes it look so easy when these excellent actors play it. Makes it look real easy. Tom Cruise is brilliant and it just shows what a great actor he always was, because he learnt to play pool very well for this movie. One of his many skills. I think this is the first movie I've seen with Newman, he was TC's inspiration, and he indeed looks like a good actor.This movie also shows you how pool players make money. It also shows some interesting ideas. 1. Manipulation. In order to make money in some professions people use manipulation. For example in this movie pool players when playing with opponent would on purpose lose a few times until they stake more and then they would win. So, like Newman said it is important to learn how to lose as well. Also he said since Tom Cruise acts very childishly, no one takes him seriously, so he can fool them even further. 2. Interesting quote from Newman, which basically says that if you do something very well then money will just come to you. (Glavnoe eto chto to umet, i ne prosto umet, a lucse vsex ostalnyx. Togda dengi ne problema, ix nuzhno tolko vziat.)

An engaging movie filled with powerful performances and a wonderful payoff directed by Martin Scorsese. Tell me what else is new?

Maybe you once spent some time in Hollywood? Maybe you did not? On this next point you should trust your friendly reviewer. The values are different. The goals are different. The yardstick for measuring success is different. As always, other IMDb reviewers have covered the story and highlighted some of the most interesting moments. But what is missing from those reviews is how anxiously the "boys" were looking forward to seeing how this experiment panned out. For some of us the "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow is money. For others fame. For the mavens in Tinseltown, it was getting a definitive answer to one of the most elusive mysteries in the biz -- can an actor well past his prime "revisit" one of his greatest roles (actually one of the greatest performances ever set to celluloid, period) after a lay-off of 25 years, and still deliver the goods? Recall (assuming you are a fight fan) that Ali could never, even after just a few years on the sidelines, bring back the speed and the snap he had BEFORE he was suspended. Frankly, you have to give Newman credit for even attempting to bring Fast Eddie back to life. Did he succeed? If you are looking for a definitive answer from me, I don't have one. I will say that the attempt, while on the one hand heroic, was at the very same time a serious cautionary tale for any actor thinking of trying the same stunt. The tone and direction were different. And the financial guys, the suits, did what they always do in this sort of situation, they threw in a younger guy as "insurance" to make sure the film didn't flop while waiting for the geriatrics to show up on the wheelchair ramp. (They needn't have bothered, this is possibly Tom Cruise's worst performance next to FAR AND AWAY and completely forgettable). If you are a film fan, and you have seen HUSTLER, oh, maybe six or twenty times, then you owe it to yourself to check our this longshot. Otherwise, give it a pass.

Fast Eddie Felson finds promising pool player Vincent in a local bar and he sees in him a younger version of himself.To try and make it like he did 25 years ago, Eddie offers to teach Vincent how to be a hustler. After some hesitation, Vincent accepts and Eddie takes him and Vincent's girlfriend on a tour through the country to work the pool halls.However, Vincent's tendency to show off his talent, warning off the players and losing money, soon leads to confrontation. with Eddie....The film shouldn't have worked, back when this film was made, it was a rarity to have a twenty five year old classic to have a sequel out of the blue, and be actually any good.But this pulls it off, and then some. Newman is wonderful as the ageing hustler, and every loss and every dollar lost, is etched on his acting and his swagger.Cruise gives just as good as Vincent, and at the same time, he's likable and insufferable, not the Cruise we've had since 1990.Scorcese pulls the viewer in and makes the most mundane situations electrifying, who else could make a bunch of old men sitting in a room smoking and drinking hitting balls this exciting.and the final twist, is not just brilliant, it's crushing to Eddie.The soundtrack is great, adding to the narrative, and all in all it's a brilliant story about coming to terms with getting old and losing certain skills, and despite the fact that it's a fun movie also, it's pretty depressing when you look at it from Eddies point of view.