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The Color of Money Movie Review

The Color of Money is a 1986 drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Paul Newman and Tom Cruise. It’s a very weak movie.

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“Money won is twice as sweet as money earned“

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Eddie Felson takes a cocky yet talented youngster under his wing and teaches him the art of pool hustling. This inspires him to make an unlikely comeback. The movie acts not as a remake, but as a sequel to 1961’s ‘The Hustler’. It happens twenty five years after the original and it once again features Paul Newman in the role of Eddie Felson, just a lot older of course.

Full disclosure – I did not care for the original. I found it overrated and very boring as a movie. The same goes for this sequel. I wouldn’t say it’s worse, but it’s certainly not an improvement in any shape or form. I did like the relationship between the two main characters and overall the characters are solidly developed, but the plot remains a chore to sit through.

Not only that, but the movie is so concerned with the game of pool that it becomes really tedious for those of us who do not care about this game. The entire third act also took an expected course of action when it comes to plot progression, leading to a very uninspired flick overall.

The main performance from Paul Newman is very good, but I wouldn’t call it Oscar-worthy, not even close. He’s strong, but this is far from his best works and his Oscar win was more the case of long-overdue than any parameter of the caliber of this performance really. Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio and Helen Shaver are both memorable in their roles, though fairly underutilized. As for Tom Cruise, he is annoying for sure, but this is still a solid early work from a future star.

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The Color of Money is far from cinematic. In fact, it’s so stale in terms of score, cinematography and its overall look and feel that it just might as well have been a television production. It is disappointing to witness such a weak film from the great Scorsese.

Just like the original, The Color of Money is also a weak, boring movie. Yes, the performances from its cast are very good, especially that of Paul Newman, and the main relationship in the film is very well developed. However, the storyline is stale overall, the runtime is prolonged and, for a Scorsese production, it’s surprisingly uncinematic and unimpressive.

My Rating – 3

You can get this movie on Amazon.