1986 produced three of my favorite movies: Top Gun, Transformer: The Movie, and The Color of Money. Being only 5 years old at the time, I didn’t see any of these movies until later in life. Around age 7 or 8, was when I first saw Transformers. It’s a cartoon movie based on my favorite childhood toys. It was very easy to understand what was going on. I watched that movie several hundred times and know the entire script. Next was Top Gun, which I first watched when I was 9. I understood the basic principles. There were cool fighter jet scenes combined with awesome 80’s music. I fast forwarded through the bedroom scene. I watched that movie several hundred times and know the entire script.
Then there’s Scorsese’s The Color of Money. I didn’t watch that until I was a young adult. There are still so many nuances to it that I haven’t grasped yet. That’s what a Scorsese movie is full of, which allows you to watch it multiple times. It’s a movie you have to watch with no interruptions, which is hard to do these days. I try to watch it every few years and I appreciate it more each time. Tom Cruise was in both Top Gun and The Color of Money. Cruise’s movie star skyrocketed when Top Gun came out. The Color of Money gave him a chance to work with legends Scorsese and Newman
This is the sequel to the 1961 classic, The Hustler. 25 years later, Paul Newman reprises his role as Fast Eddie Felson. No longer a defiant young pool shark, Eddie is an elder statesman who sells booze. He still hangs around pool halls as he stakes players. One evening, his protege, John Turturro is getting cleaned out at the table. That’s the first time Eddie sees Vincent, played by a young Tom Cruise.
Before the famous “Werewolves of London” scene, Eddie had taken Vincent under his wing. Eddie recognized the raw talent that Vincent had at the pool table. He tried to pair Vincent’s skill with the cue with his own acumen of the pool hustling world. At times, it was a struggle. Eddie attempted to show Vincent that you could win a lot more in the long run if you lost a few times in the short run. Unfortunately, Vincent was young, brash, and too cocky to learn from others. He was exactly like how Eddie was twenty five years earlier.
Before Vincent decided to take the Balabushka out for a spin, Eddie let him know that a high roller tended to frequent a nearby pool hall. If Vincent played his cards right, and his pool game a little wrong, he’d have a chance to take several thousand dollars off this high roller. Eddie was attempting to get Vincent to focus on a big score. But when you put one of the greatest pool cues into a young man’s hands, he’s going to want to wield it and show off its power. Rather than play the long game, Vincent goes for the instant gratification. He challenges the resident shark, Moselle to a match for a measly $150.
Not one for subtleties, Vincent plays it up for the crowd. In fact, by the time Eddie shows up to try and stop him, Vincent way overdoes it with the theatrics. Hell, he’s even wearing a shirt with his name on it! Eddie walks in and shares a wordless conversation with Orvis, the pool hall manager. A simple head nod signifying that Vincent hadn’t learned a damn thing was all it took for Eddie to realize that he still couldn’t get through to Vincent.
Fun fact! Doom, the computer game got its title from this movie, when Vincent opens up the pool cue case.
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