The Sunday Review: The Color of Money
Today's review covers The Color of Money (1986).
From Wikipedia: The film continues the story of poolhustler and stakehorse Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson from Tevis's first novel, The Hustler (1959), with Newman reprising his role from the 1961 film adaptation. It begins more than 25 years after the events of the previous film, with Eddie retired from the pool circuit. Newman won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, his first Oscar win after seven nominations. The film centers around the game of nine-ball, a pool variant played for high stakes.
The cast: The film stars Paul Newman and Tom Cruise, with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, and John Turturro in supporting roles. I LOVED THIS MOVIE! I watched this on a plane ride to Austin the other day, and I couldn't have picked a better movie to pass the time! I was enthralled by the film from start to finish. I saw Tom Cruise's name listed, and I was like, "Cruise? Chances are this movie will be decent. Who's Newman?" What I liked: I LOVE PAUL NEWMAN! That was my first time watching him in a film, and oh my god, his performance was stunning. Honestly, I thought going into the movie that the story was about Cruise's character (Vincent Lauria) at first, but I realized a little before halfway through the movie that Newman's character (Eddie Felson) was the main protagonist. Newman's acting was impeccable; he truly brought Felson to life through his slick, confident talk and steely and daring poise. I instantly thought of him having "rizz" when talking with his female counterpart, Helen Shaver (Janelle).
Cruise puts in a stellar performance as the supporting character Vincent. I loved the pseudo-father-son relationship between Felson and Lauria. (It made me think of Nathan Drake and Victor Sullivan from the Uncharted video game series!) I want to watch more movies featuring Newman now!
The ladies in this film killed their roles too: Shaver as Janelle, Mastrantonio as Carmen were incredible and while they didn't interact much one-on-one, I loved how they are juxtaposed against one another through their bond with their respective partners (Carmen and Vincent, Eddie and Janelle).
Hats off to Martin Scorsese for directing such a masterful film. The dialogue sticks with me to this day:
"Well, he's got the eye, he's got the stroke, he's got the flake... he's got the flake down cold. But can he flake on and flake off? I don't know. That's not clear."
"Money won is twice as sweet as money earned."
They couldn't have picked a better cast to bring these words to life!
What I didn't like:
Nothing here to critique the movie itself! Unfortunately, I discovered this movie is a sequel to The Hustler (1961). So now I have another movie to watch!
What I would have changed:
Nothing! Perfect movie!
10/10 - Highly recommend!!!
Soda