One of the Best 80s Movies

Rating: 10/10 (4 November 2005)

The Color of Money profiles the business partnership between pool guru Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) and his protégé Vincent (Tom Cruise) as he learns the nuts and bolts of pool hustling. It's a beautifully written movie, with crisp and believable dialog, and a wonderfully entertaining premise. This is one of the best 80s movies in terms of intelligence and character balance, and Tom Cruise and Paul Newman play off of one another fabulously. Where most master-student movies are unabashedly sentimental after the tough guy veneer has been peeled back, the relationship between Vincent and Eddie remains Platonic and business-like, and lends to the believability of Newman's character. The scene in which Eddie and Carmen are in the hotel room in which he pretends to go after her, only to call her bluff, as she flaunts herself sexually is incredibly brilliant and offers a chance for Eddie to philosophize on the "business,"--showing himself to be a classy hustler, if ever there was such a kind, not subject to the average man's appetites or common temptations. He is no washed up has-been. He is no down-on-his-luck self-pitying dreg. From Eddie's character, we see a complex optimist (without being campy) who is comfortable in the most banal of circumstances, and whose street education gives him the unique ability to see the potential in any situation. As far as character movies go, this one offers a great balance of development and story. Newman's performance is flawless. And the obnoxious, juvenile charm of Vincent is a benchmark of Tom Cruise's earlier film credits.