Review of The Color of Money (1986) by Blackity B — 15 Jul 2010

Where the first film failed to truly capitalize on the subject matter, this film manages to pack as much pool as humanly possible into two hours. Even better, with almost every game, the stakes are changed in subtle ways that make billiards look even more exciting.

Part of this is due to Scorsese's pitch-perfect directing, which strikes a balance between the character driven aspects of the game and just flat-out sexy shots of the game being played on the table.

While little has changed with the art of the hustle portrayed in the first film, the biggest surprises and some of the best moments come from covert nature of the hustle; in the first film, we're always privy to the inside story on each game, but in this one, we're given moments of doubt that are followed by a turn-around or even a complete perspective change.

Though there isn't much in common with the first film other than the protagonist, Newman presents a definite build off of his work in the previous effort, rightly earning an Academy Award for his work. On the other end of the table, Cruise plays an annoying twerp like no one else can while Mastrantonio scintillates without getting too involved.

Don't watch it without seeing the first one, because the groundwork laid there is in full bloom by the time this one gets going.