Review of The Color of Money (1986) by Erik S — 05 Aug 2008
Fast forward 20 years. Fast Eddie is now a liquor salesman. Along comes Tom Cruise with that goddamn smirk of his and goes and invigorates poor old Eddie again. Now this movie should have been called The Hustler.
This movie is an unofficial sequel to the one I just mentioned. Paul Newman is back, and this time he is much more interesting. The game has changed to 9-ball and now the young kid is Tom Cruise. And he does a much more better job of it than Newman did over twenty years ago. I really dig the references to the first movie (although a shitty movie it was), like drinking booze (nothing is more true), commenting on the game being changed and having the same favorite drink. Even the character of Vincent is pretty much the same as Eddie was when he was young. Scorsese just made a better movie. Big surprise.
The pool shots aren't as good as in the original, but the story and the characters are both much better. And now they really hustle too, not just play. Ultimately this movie falls prey to some boredom too. There should have been more flashy playing. But I get the melancholic approach of nostalgia and reminiscing the past. Something was just missing. But the most infuriating part is the closing shot. I really wanted to know what happened after the tacky freeze-frame.
This review of The Color of Money (1986) was written by Erik S on 05 Aug 2008.
The Color of Money has generally received positive reviews.
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