A character piece

Rating: 8/10 (13 February 2005)

Truly, I haven't seen much of Martin Scorsese's filmography, but I have heard he's great and has never been recognized. One day I'll catch all of his directed films. In this "catching" process, I had the chance to watch "The Color of Money", which should be important for reasons as: the movie that gave Paul Newman's his first and only Academy Award; or the very good performances and character development.
As soon as the movie opens, there's a guy talking (Martin Scorsese, wow) about a game, but, for some reason, you can also sense he's talking about life. Paul Newman's performance is splendid. He creates a man that has lived too much, but enjoys life and just wants to live it until the end. We watch him: he seems like any other man. We listen to him: he knows things the rest doesn't. He has a normal job, but also invests; in excellence, we learn. When someone asks him about his excellence, he declares: "I study people's character".
Vincent's excellence is pool. 9-Ball, to be accurate. When he and Eddie (Newman) meet, he's just a player. A pure player who makes some money playing, but doesn't know he could make much more. There's a world he doesn't know. As Eddie invests in excellence, he wants to take Vincent on a tour. Cities, tournaments...Money. Maybe it's all about money. Eddie is, or was, a player, we realize, and we learn. He will try to teach Vincent the secrets of the game, how to do it.
And Carmen. Well, she is the center. She's Vincent girlfriend ("We've been together for a year"). She met him when she was robbing his house. Vincent loves her, and decides to join the tour because he's afraid of loosing her. Does Carmen love Vincent? Maybe. There's also the chance that she loves him for the money she can make with him. But she says good things about him all the time. I think they're both really in love, and that this journey tests their love.
This journey is about achieving the human sides of the people involved in it. It's great to hear a script talking about persons with pure knowledge about some special things. This is a character piece in every way and the greatest time you'll probably have it watching that part (if "that" isn't just the whole piece). Yes, it is also about the game, but not that much. Because first they have to reach a human level before they can get to the game.
Now, about the supporting performances (because there are other performances but not as deep and not as important). I like to think that there was a time when Tom Cruise could act, and wasn't much of an image. I mean, in the last years he did some good roles, but not that good; Come on! He has this habit; he screams when he's trying to show some emotion. It really works, or at least, worked here and in "Jerry Maguire" (probably his best performance). He's fine here, he was still an actor at that time, and chose good roles. The truth is I don't like him very much, but sometimes he can really work it out.
Mastrantonio is calmed in her role. Calmed and natural. An excellent performance. I would say that her character is rational and intelligent. She wants something more exciting, and she needs to find it.
I loved Forest Whitaker cameo as Amos, had to say it.
There's one scene, when Vincent is playing against a guy, and the camera starts to move in circles, showing Newman's face in a background, and also showing alternate faces of all the characters. The camera is looking for emotion.
That's character film-making.