Tom Cruise Movie:

				Salesrank:
		MPAA Rating: R (Restricted) Media: DVD

Editorial Review:
Martin Scorsese handles directing duties in this 1986 sequel to the classic 1961 film The Hustler, which marks the return of Paul Newman to the role of pool shark Fast Eddie Felson. Anxious to break into the big time again, Eddie finds a talented protégé (Tom Cruise) to groom; but with the addition of the latter's manipulative girlfriend (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) and the wild streak in Cruise's character, the trio make for a fascinating portrait in group psychology. The cast is brilliant, the script by Richard Price (Clockers) is a paragon of tightly controlled character study and drama (at least in the film's first half), and Scorsese and cinematographer Michael Ballhaus make an ornate show of the collision and flight of pool balls through space--something of a metaphor for the dynamics among the three principals. The film is generally regarded as weaker in its second half, and rightly so, as everything that was interesting in the first place disappears. Still, Newman won a deserved Oscar for his performance. --Tom Keogh

The Color of Money [Region 2] Reviews:
Good film, poor bare-bones DVD.
2009-12-19 - Martin Scorsese's "The Color Of Money" is a solid film though not as good as it being the unofficial sequel to "The Hustler". On its own merits it's not a bad film but doesn't achieve the greatness of the former film.

It is, for what it is, an '80s retelling of the tale of a young upstart taken under the wing of a wizened mentor who, in the process, winds up regaining his passion for his former trade. In this case Fast Eddie Felson becomes Vince's mentor and comes out of his retirement from the sport of billiards through poohhall hustling and professional billiards.

It's a standard story and the performances by the three leads is quite good. The fetishistic photography of the billiard games in play as well as the music score help to add a bit of atmosphere to this movie. While "The Hustler" had its smoky poolhalls and film noir cinematography this film has more of an '80s optimism and cockiness about it. It's by far more lighthearted and such differences can fuel the many detractors who view this, by and large, a lesser film.

Unfortunately, Touchstone Pictures has not given this film a better DVD release. The film is presented on a dual-layer DVD with no real features to speak of in a non-anamorphic letterboxed 4:3 interlaced digital transfer from its original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio. The second-layer of the DVD is barely touched by the film and certainly a digital remaster employing more of that unused spaced offered by the format would be welcome.


The Color of Money
2009-10-28 - I'm a huge Tom Cruise Fan, but this movie was a little boring. I think the actors were great, it's just the story seemed to take forever.

color of money
2009-09-14 - I think that in this film Paul Newman taught very well how acting to Tom Cruise. It is the sequel of "The Hustler" staring by Paul Newman too.

Color of Money by Caiman who ripped me off
2009-09-02 - Imagine ordering from the USA and this seller sends me a format for Egypt! HELLO?
I purchased this video from Caiman, seller and they sent me a video that wouldn't play in any of my video machines. Notice came up said wrong format.
I contacted Amazon who told me to contact caiman who said I received a format for Eqypt and the Middle East. My mailing address was Philadelphia, PA (USA!)
They didn't appologize. They said since I opened the package I had to keep it. To make the insult worse, they sent me fine print telling me the format in some foreign language.
Not a stand-up seller. A real rip off.
I'd recommend anyone considering something from them to cancel their order.


Money won is twice as sweet as money earned
2009-08-05 - "The Color of Money," starring Paul Newman in a reprise of his role as Fast Eddie Felson from 1961's "The Hustler," is about Money, but it is also about Pool. It is about the intersection of Pool and Money, and how Money won is twice as sweet as money earned. Maybe the title refers to the green felt of a billiard table. But most probably, it is just about Money, and how having it, smelling it, spending it, and looking at it are just about the only things that beat playing a top notch game of pool.

Eddie's pool hustling days are over. Now he makes his money by hustling liquor. He makes the rounds of the bars he used to hustle pool in and sells the bar owners cheap whiskey that they can pass off as big brand name call whisky. Just as he is about to close a deal with Janelle (Helen Shaver), he hears Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise) break a rack of Nine Ball like a clap of thunder. He is intrigued, and knowing talent when he sees it, decides to take Vincent on the road, hustling pool across the country and ending up at the big Nine Ball tournament in Atlantic City.

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Vincent Lauria: I think maybe the money's what's throwing you off here today.
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Vincent Lauria is perhaps a little bit Joel Goodsen from "Risky Business," a bit of Brian Flanagan from "Cocktail," and even a touch of Lestat de Lioncourt. Or maybe he is more werewolf than vampire. In one of the most exciting sequences of "The Color of Money" Vincent performs a Nine Ball Beat Down choreographed to Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London."

"I saw a werewolf drinking a piña colada at Trader Vic's, his hair was perfect!" Cruise even pats his coif in synch with that line. I guess it is playing on the juke box, though a bit far fetched that it would be on the juke box in the dive pool hall where the scene unfolds. I will allow it, though, because the scene, like the werewolf's hair, is perfect.

The only problem though, as Eddie sees it, and is trying to show Vincent, is that he is missing the point about Pool, and that point is the Money. By showing off like that he is only going to scare off the money players.

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Fast Eddie Felson: Pool excellence is *not* about excellent pool.
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It is hard for Vince to lie down, or dump. He is an animal. "Ah-oooooh!" When he is really on fire, there is no stopping him. Eddie tries various methods to educate Vincent, to varying degrees of success. There are some rather harsh lessons. In some ways Vincent also teaches Eddie, especially when it comes to the Poule Du Jour, Nine Ball. Eddie can't quite get behind the New Order:

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Fast Eddie Felson: This ain't pool. This is for bangers. Straight pool is pool. This is like hand-ball, or cribbage, or something. Straight pool, you gotta be a real surgeon to get 'em, you know? It's all finesse. Now, every thing is nine-ball, 'cause it's fast, good for T.V., good for a lot of break shots... Oh, well. What the hell. Checkers sells more than chess.
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This aspect of "The Color of Money" reminds me of The Master of Go, a novel by the Nobel Prize-winning Japanese author Yasunari Kawabata published in 1951. It is a semi-fictional, semi-factual chronicle of the lengthy 1938 game of Go by Go master Honinbo Shusai, against the up-and-coming player Minoru Kitani (called Otake in the book).

Manifold and multiform are the levels of meaning of The Master of Go, more so than Kawabata's other works. As well as simply describing the game, there are the themes of the struggle between the older player whose powers are fading, and his younger challenger; and also the clash between the differing playing styles and personalities -- much like the clash between Eddie and Vincent. The book reflects the tension between old traditions and new pragmatism.

That theme is prevalent in "The Color of Money" as well. Vincent, besides banging away at Nine Ball, is also a video gamer. What's the matter with kids today? Julian (John Turturro), another younger pool player, is crass, crude, and a sniffer of coke. Eddie feels like such indulgences have really had a detrimental effect on Pool as he knew it. Several times Eddie admonishes Julian to wipe the powder from his nose.

"The Color of Money" is a little bit like "Cocktail" with an older mentor, a kind of father substitute, guiding the young acolyte to greater knowledge and understanding. Cruise, growing up without a father, surrounded by sisters and raised by a single mother, would seem to be ever searching for that father he never had. Newman is good in his role, as he proves quite the stern father, meting out harsh lessons, hard knocks, and avoiding any easy sentimentality.

Like the triangle used to rack the balls, another interesting triangle is formed by Eddie, Vincent, and Vince's girlfriend, Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio). There is quite an interesting dynamic at play here -- not a love triangle, though Carmen does seem to flirt a bit with Eddie, but it is more of a partnership, with Eddie and Carmen conspiring to prod and steer the thoroughbred race horse, Vincent, on to victory.

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Eddie Felson: I'm not your daddy, I'm not your boyfriend, so don't be playing games with me. I'm your partner.
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Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Carmen is tough and smart -- though she doesn't catch on to the game right at first. Keep your eyes on her, though. She is a quick study. She more than holds her own with the two stars.

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Fast Eddie Felson: Do you smell that?
Vincent Lauria: What, smoke?
Carmen: No, Money...
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In one scene Carmen and Eddie run a con with Vince that involves Eddie acting as if Carmen is his young mistress while they berate Vincent, in order to get the suckers to bet against him. It works like a charm, except that Vince gets mad and jealous for real. They tell him that they are only acting, it is all a part of the con they are running. Carmen compares it to the way actors in Hollywood kiss and carry on onscreen.

This is yet another way to look at "The Color of Money." Pool as a metaphor for the act of Acting. The veteran actor, Paul Newman showing the young hot shot, Tom Cruise, a thing or two. The acting lessons he is giving him parallel the lessons Eddie is giving Vince about Pool. Eddie goes through a lot of grief coming to terms with old age and the fact that he has a hard time competing with the new generation. But stealth and cunning go a long way, and Newman, the actor, kind of steals the show from the brash new man, the upstart Cruise.

Director Martin Scorsese deserves a lot of credit, too, and look for Forest Whitaker as Amos, a hustler who hustles The Hustler -- and there's even a brief cameo by Iggy Pop! Lots of the extras and pool players were actual pool players, so watch out for them and the incredible shots they make. Tom Cruise actually did learn a lot of the tricks of the trade, and makes a lot of the trick shots himself (though a few really tricky ones were farmed out to pros. Martin Scorsese felt like Tom Cruise could have learned them and would have learned them, but it would have taken out a few precious days from the shooting schedule).

Bottom line is "The Color of Money" is a gritty drama that racks up five stars just as easy as Vince sinks a 3 ball combination bank shot.

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Fast Eddie Felson: The balls roll funny for everybody, kiddo.
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SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY OF PAUL NEWMAN

Sometimes a Great Notion (1970) .... Hank Stamper
Cool Hand Luke (1967) .... Luke
Sweet Bird of Youth (1962) .... Chance Wayne
The Hustler (1961) .... Eddie Felson
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) .... Brick Pollitt

SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY OF TOM CRUISE

Magnolia (1999) .... Frank T.J. Mackey
Eyes Wide Shut (Unrated Two-Disc Special Edition) (1999) .... Dr. William 'Bill' Harford
Interview with the Vampire (1994) .... Lestat de Lioncourt
Cocktail (1988) .... Brian Flanagan
Risky Business (1983) .... Joel Goodsen

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Fast Eddie Felson: Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.
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