The Color of Money

MOVIE #1,953 • SCORE 6/10 • 09.09.24
SERIES: MARTIN SCORSESE DIRECTOR FOCUS

This starts out strong but loses steam. Even Marty can't make the world of billiards interesting for 120 minutes. The big mentor-apprentice final match has nearly no juice (even when the reality of the situation is revealed). Individually, these are good characters with great actors delivering solid performances but the nothingness of the story — you gather the gist about foolish pride and that you can win and still lose and vice versa in the first act — makes it less than the sum of its parts. It ends on a really awkward freeze frame too.

---

CHRONOLOGICALLY
⫷ MOVIE #1,952 - (YOU ARE HERE) - MOVIE #1,954 ⫸

---

The Color of Money is a 1986 American sports drama film directed by Martin Scorsese. It is the sequel to the 1961 film The Hustler. Like the previous film, The Color of Money is based on the novel of the same name by Walter Tevis. The film stars Paul Newman reprising his role as "Fast Eddie" Felson, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. The film also stars Tom Cruise playing a pool hustler, and features Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as the girlfriend of Cruise's character. It was released on October 17, 1986 .