The Color of Money (Widescreen)

Paul Newman's back as Fast Eddie Felson, crackshot pool hustler. This is the sequel to the 1961 classic "The Hustler" (a film I still have to see.) Fast Eddie is back 25 years later; wiser, sharper, and better-looking than ever... This time, he's mentor to a naive, yet obnoxious, Tom Cruise. He finds out from Eddie he still has a lot to learn. The two make a cool pair. No wonder Newman won the Oscar for this one, although he should've won years earlier. One of his best performances.

This is my favorite movie ever (chased closely by Apocalypse Now). I have watched it dozens of times, and i never seem to get sick of it. I am an avid pool player, but you don't have to be one yourself to appreciate this masterpiece, which IMO rivals anything else Scorsese has done in his long distinguished career. The whole movie exudes style from start to finish, and Paul Newman is quite simply the epitome of cool. His performance is intense and laid-back at the same time, and he never over-acts (the most widespread chronic disease in Hollywood). Cruise is great as the young cocky upstart, Mastrantonio does an admirable job as his tough girlfriend, and the movie is sprinkled with a whole host of really great supporting performances, including one by Forrest Whitaker as the hustler who out-hustles the master, and a great (quick) one by Iggy Pop of all people in a barroom scene. The movie flows and is filled with energy, the cinematography is spectacular (in particular in a scene where the camera follows closely behind the pool balls as they scatter all over the table). Newman is as classy as he's ever been, and was wholly deserving of the Oscar for this performance. The plot is riveting, and takes us from ex-legend Fast Eddie Felson's discovery of a new prodigy (Cruise's character Vincent) through Vincent's initiation into the Art of Hustling and a whirlwind tour of east coast bars and poolhalls, all the way through to the stirring conclusion as the Master battles the Student in a winner-take-all final game of 9 ball. Perhaps my favorite scene is when, in the midst of an ongoing moral dilemma, Eddie looks down to take his shot and sees his reflection in the 8-ball. He pauses, then straightens up, unscrews his cue and forfeits the match, unable to face himself. The movie is funny, highly dramatic and inspiring all at the same time, and Martin Scorsese gives it his usual tough, no-frills, occasionally violent personal stamp to make it one of the most watchable pieces of cinema you will see in a long time. Maybe I'm biased since I grew up in New Jersey (near NYC), but I don't think so. The movie is a lot of fun, has a whole slew of fabulous performances, and is a must-see...

This is far from Scorsese's most penetrating or heartfelt work, but so what? It's still quite entertaining. The movie features a stellar turn by Paul Newman (who justifiably picked up an Oscar for his sterling work here) as "Fast Eddie" Felson, who sees a huge opportunity in Vincent (Tom Cruise), a young pool hotshot Fast Eddie thinks could be the key to a new hustle. The acting here is all top-notch, though, from Tom Cruise and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio all the way through to a great cameo from Forrest Whitaker. The DVD really looks great and brings out the finesse of Thelma Schoonmaker's superb editing, and the settings and dialogue here ring so true you can almost smell the cigarette smoke in the pool halls they frequent.