The Color of Money
The Color of Money US movie poster
Directed by	Martin Scorsese
Produced by	Irving Axelrad Barbara De Fina Dodie Foster (a.p.)
Written by	Walter Tevis (novel) Richard Price (screenplay)
Starring	Paul Newman Tom Cruise Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio John Turturro Forest Whitaker
Music by	Robbie Robertson
Cinematography	Michael Ballhaus (d.p.)
Editing by	Thelma Schoonmaker
Distributed by	Touchstone Pictures
Release date(s)	October 17 1986
Running time	119 min.
Language	English
Budget	$10,000,000 US
IMDb profile

The Color of Money is a 1984 novel by American writer Walter Tevis, continuing the story of Edward "Fast Eddie" Felson from The Hustler (1959). The book was very loosely adapted into a 1986 film of the same name, with Paul Newman reprising his role from the movie version of The Hustler (1961). The film also stars Tom Cruise as Vincent, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Carmen, Helen Shaver as Janelle and John Turturro as Julian. The screenplay was written by Richard Price, and the film was directed by Martin Scorsese, featuring an original score by Robbie Robertson. It was given an "R" rating by the MPAA.^[1]

Many top pool players of the 1980s have cameos, including Steve Mizerak, Jimmy Mataya, Grady Mathews and Keith McCready (meanwhile both Mike Sigel and Ewa Mataya Laurance also served as a technical consultants and shot-performers on the film). Another notable cameo is that of Iggy Pop, who plays one of the many contenders on the road. A young Forest Whitaker makes an extended appearance as a player as well.^[2][3] The title is a reference to the traditional green cloth (or baize) of a pool table being reminiscent of American currency notes.

Plot synopses

In the book version of the sequel, Felson is no longer a professional pool player, but owns a pool hall. He takes up a cue again to go on tour versus Minnesota Fats (the fictional character from The Hustler, not Rudolph "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone) for a cable TV sports show. While losing to Fats, he regains some of his lost competitiveness and pride.

In the film version, Felson is a liquor salesman, who misses the action, and goes back on the road as a stakehorse for a skilled but unfocused protégé, Vincent, travelling with the latter's manipulative girlfriend, Carmen. Eddie teaches them how to hustle significant amounts of money, but becomes increasingly frustrated with them and with himself, until they have an explosive falling-out, and part ways. Eddie resumes competitive play himself, first hustling on "the road" and later in the professional tournament circuit, eventually coming head-to-head across the table with the now-successful (and treacherous) Vincent. Subplots involve antagonism with Eddie's cocaine-abusing former sidekick Julian; Eddie's up-and-down romance with a bar owner, Janelle; sexual tension between Carmen and Eddie; and (as in the book) Eddie's returning sense of pride. Only minor references are made to the original movie (a returned character, Eddie's nickname, his formerly being shut out of the pool-hustling sphere, his preferred brand of whiskey, J.T.S. Brown, etc.), and Fats is not part of the story.

Awards and critical reception

The movie won the Academy Award for Best Actor (Newman, with a similar US National Board of Review win and Golden Globe nomination), and was Oscar-nominated for Best Supporting Actress (Mastrantonio, also nominated for the corresponding Golden Globe), Best Set Decoration and Best Adapted Screenplay.^[4]

The movie has positively influenced the popularity of pool. ^[5] However, critical reviews have been mixed: some believe the film to be an inferior near-remake of The Hustler, and it is regarded by many as one of Scorsese's lesser films.^{[attribution needed]} Scorsese himself admitted later on that he agreed to do the film in order to finance the production of The Last Temptation of Christ.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

• Director Scorsese performed the opening uncredited voiceover describing the game of nine-ball, and had a cameo walking his dog, and another playing pool.^[3]
• Newman said that the best advice he was given by Scorsese was to "try not to be funny".^[3]
• Cruise performed most of his own shots. An exception was a jump shot over two balls to sink another. Scorsese believed Cruise could learn the shot, but that it would take too long, so the shot was performed for him by Mike Sigel.^[3]
• The "Balabushka" cue in the movie was actually a Joss N7^[6] (not a Meucci as many believe), made to resemble a classic Balabushka.
• John Carmack of id Software, one of the authors of the computer game Doom, has stated that the title of the game was inspired by Vincent's response when asked what he carried in his cue-case: "Doom."^[7]

References

• Available editions of the book include: ISBN 0-446323-53-5 (1984, first edition), ISBN 0-44634-419-2 (1986, movie tie-in edition), ISBN 0-349101-50-7 (1990), ISBN 1-568496-89-3 (1997), and ISBN 1-560254-85-8 (2003).

1. ^ "The Color of Money (1986)" main entry, IMDb, accessed January 30, 2006
2. ^ "Full Cast and Crew for The Color of Money", IMDb, accessed January 30, 2006
3. ^ ^{a b c d} "Trivia for The Color of Money", IMDb, accessed January 30, 2006
4. ^ "Awards for The Color of Money", IMDb, accessed January 30, 2006
5. ^ "Most Significant Event: The Color of Money (1986)", Billiards Digest, October 2003, page 72
6. ^ Commercial information about the Joss N7 model pool cue, which stood in for a Balabushka in the film
7. ^ Doomworld. Interview with John Carmack. Retrieved on November 15, 2005.

External links

• The Color of Money at the Internet Movie Database

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