The Color of Money **** (1986, Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro, Bill Cobbs, Forest Whitaker) – Classic Movie Review 873

Paul Newman didn’t attend the Academy Awards ceremony when he won his long-overdue Best Actor Oscar for Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money in 1987. Nor did he when he won an honorary award the previous year.

Director Martin Scorsese’s 1986 movie The Color of Money sees Paul Newman finally winning his long-overdue Best Actor Oscar by reprising the role of pool hustler ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson from 1961’s The Hustler, now grown well into middle age. ‘Fast’ Eddie sees a cocky but talented young pool player, Vincent Lauria (Tom Cruise), in some bar and recognises a younger version of himself. He offers to hand on his pool skills to Vincent and teach him how to be a hustler, and Vincent reluctantly agrees to become his protégé.

‘Fast’ Eddie takes Vincent and his girlfriend Carmen on a tour through the country to work the pool halls. But they clash when Vincent shows off his talent and so warns off the other players and loses money. Eventually, with his confidence renewed, ‘Fast’ Eddie is somehow inspired by  the experience to make an unlikely comeback.

The Color of Money is a highly enjoyable and richly entertaining movie that lacks tension, tautness and emotional charge for some of the way, but does finally take hold, grip, bite and satisfy. Though not at his 60s Hustler/ Hud/ Hombre/ Cool Hand Luke peak, Newman is still magnetically compelling, and he is certainly rousing enough to make you want to cheer him on to win both the Oscar and in the story of the movie.

His co-stars Cruise and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Vincent’s girlfriend Carmen are excellent, though they are definitely required to play second fiddle to the star. It was Cruise’s best acting performance to date, a sign that he was a real contender himself, more than just a pretty face.

Unfortunately, director Scorsese is not inspired to work quite as full on or as flat out as he does in his best movies like Raging Bull (1980) or GoodFellas (1990). But he does manage to tell a good story and provide lots of seedy atmosphere and, with it, a bracing air of sharp cynicism.

He is greatly helped by telling support performances (especially from Bill Cobbs, John Turturro and Forest Whitaker), Michael Ballhaus’s flashily smoky, atmospheric cinematography, and Thelma Shoonmaker’s usual sharp job on the editing. Richard Price’s crisp screenplay makes a good job of adapting the sequel novel by Walter Tevis.

There were three other Oscar nominations: for Mastrantonio as Best Supporting Actress, Richard Price for Best Adapted Screenplay and Boris Leven and Karen O’Hara for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration.

Paul Newman died on September 26 2008, aged 83. The ever-cool Newman burnt his tuxedo on his 75^th birthday because he said he was fed up with formality. There were seven failed attempts at an Oscar for Newman till he finally won for the wrong movie, The Color of Money, in 1987, with two more nominations after. He didn’t attend the Academy Awards ceremony and nor did he when he won an honorary award the previous year.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Film Review 87 3 derekwinnert.com

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