This is a movie that can change your life

Rating: Null/10 (12 June 2001)

In retrospect, anybody who has seen both "The Hustler" and "The Color of Money" have a hard time judging the relative quality of the two films. Depending on which one you have seen first, you probably will pick that one as the better of the two.
However, this film changed my life in that after watching it, I was determined to become good at pool. Years later, after attaining a certain degree of ability, I watched it again, and found the shots to be rather simplistic and contrived.
Compared to "The Hustler" however, where the main actors made all the shots themselves, there was an amazing degree of ability displayed. In the latter film, the shots were set up for them, while in the former film, the shots took more skill.
This, however, is not what changed my life. While playing pool does have a significant role, I was most astounded by the degree of skill this movie was directed in. The first time I saw it, I was impressed by Tom Cruise's "skill." Later, I was astounded by the camera work.
Without the imaginative direction, this movie would have been an average flick. With it, (for example, look at when the helicopter sound starts during the first con Newman and Cruise pull,) this film becomes genius.
Hal