rating:
(out of
4 stars)United States; 1986
Directed by Martin Scorsese; produced by Irving Axelrad, Barbara De Fina; screenplay Richard Price
Starring Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro, Bill Cobbs
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
Martin Scorsese makes great films and from time to time he makes a good one.
'The Color of Money' is one of those good ones, although it has some great
aspects, and is sort of a sequel to a great film. The first film is Robert
Rossen's 'The Hustler', released in 1961, with Paul Newman as Fast Eddie
Felson, a great pool player but also a self-destructive man. Now, 25 years
later, he (still Paul Newman) does not play the game of pool for money
anymore. He is selling liquor and you can tell right away he is pretty good
at it. One night his ears catch a shot made by Vincent (Tom Cruise) and
right away Eddie feels that the kid could be the best. Through his
girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) he reaches Vincent together
they hit the road to make some money playing pool.
In short this is the story. We follow Eddie, Vincent and Carmen, we learn
more about the relationship between Vincent and Carmen, but also about a
relationship Eddie is having with a woman named Janelle (Helen Shaver). Of
course there are complications on the road, sometimes pretty clichéd, but
Scorsese is one of the finest directors out there and he knows how to keep
all this very entertaining. Strong performances help with that, quite a lot
actually. Watching especially Newman, in every scene, is a delight and
Cruise shows why he was going to be the biggest star of his generation.
Shaver and Mastrantonio seem to be perfect for their roles as well.
In the end it is fair to say 'The Color of Money' does not even come close
to Scorsese's best and may be not even close to 'The Hustler', but it is
entertainment even when it is flawed. May be expectations are high with a
Scorsese film, therefore this could feel as a disappointment. On the other
hand, my guess is that this film would not have been as entertaining as it
is in the hands of another director.