The Hustler isn't what he used to be. But he has the next best thing. A kid who is.
Overview
Former pool hustler "Fast Eddie" Felson decides he wants to return to the game by taking a pupil. He meets talented but green Vincent Lauria and proposes a partnership. As they tour pool halls, Eddie teaches Vincent the tricks of scamming, but he eventually grows frustrated with Vincent's showboat antics, leading to an argument and a falling-out. Eddie takes up playing again and soon crosses paths with Vincent as an opponent.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.6/10
IMDb: 7.0/10
Letterboxd: 3.72/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 87%
Metacritic: 77
TMDB: 6.9/10
Director
Martin Scorsese
Production
Touchstone Pictures, Silver Screen Partners II
Cast
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro, Bill Cobbs, Forest Whitaker, Keith McCready, Elizabeth Bracco, Vito D'Ambrosio, Ron Dean, Robert Agins, Alvin Anastasia, Randall Arney, Lisa Dodson, Donald A. Feeney, Paul Geier, Carey Goldenberg, Joe Guastaferro, Paul Herman
Curator Review
Verdict
A slick, surprisingly romantic sports drama with Scorsese’s kinetic style, sharp character friction, and two charismatic leads trading ego, mentorship, and self-reinvention. It’s less explosive than the director’s flashiest work, but the pool-room choreography, mood, and performances make it an easy recommendation.
Best for
Viewers who like stylish 80s dramas
Fans of competitive, skill-based sports movies
People drawn to mentor-protégé tension and rivalry
Anyone who enjoys charismatic star performances
Viewers who like movies about confidence, ego, and reinvention
Skip if
You want a very plot-heavy or twisty story
You prefer understated indie realism over glossy style
You’re not interested in sports or competition movies
You expect a hard-edged crime film rather than a character drama
Overview
The Color of Money is one of those sequels that works less as a continuation than as a reinvention. It takes the cool, hustler energy of the pool hall and turns it into a study of ego, apprenticeship, and the strange intimacy of competition. Newman is wonderfully weathered, Cruise is all velocity and vanity, and the movie thrives on the tension between them.
Worth noting
Scorsese shoots the game like a seduction and a duel, with pool balls, neon, and movement doing as much storytelling as the dialogue. The film has a glossy 80s surface, but underneath it’s about pride, aging, and the need to prove yourself in public. The soundtrack and visual rhythm give it a propulsive, almost romantic charge.
Bottom line
It may not rank with Scorsese’s most ferocious work, but it’s a very watchable, very confident film. If you like movies where craft, charisma, and competition all feed into each other, this one lands beautifully.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Sean Fennessey (5★) · 2812 likes
A film that should be rated X because to me it is pornography.
Timcop (4★) · 1984 likes
Paul Newman giving Tom Cruise googly eyes while he destroys John Turturro in a game of pool while Phil Collins' "One More Night" plays in the background is the frontrunner for most romantic moment of the 80's.
Karsten (4.5★) · 1434 likes
in the last year i’ve gotten back into billiards and have played a good amount at one of the iconic chicago locations they shot this in, making this rewatch a lot more engaging than my first time where this was one of three scorsese films i was watching a day. still pretty tame and unremarkable if you’re going to look at it next to the rest of his filmography, but i really couldn’t take my eyes off this thing. works… more in the last year i’ve gotten back into billiards and have played a good amount at one of the iconic chicago locations they shot this in, making this rewatch a lot more engaging than my first time where this was one of three scorsese films i was watching a day. still pretty tame and unremarkable if you’re going to look at it next to the rest of his filmography, but i really couldn’t take my eyes off this thing. works… more
Feeling depressed. Needed to watch a comfort film. Scorsese's most underrated. A good winter movie, everything has that grey, frozen, slushy, road salt covered, Midwestern tundra feel to it. Top soundtrack. I want to feel like VINCE, still feel like Fast Eddie after Forest Whitaker guts him.
UPDATE: Getting out of my solipsistic slump here and upon further consideration this movie is the Ur-Tom Cruise movie. I think it's his best performance. There's a whole meta-movie aspect with a post-Risky… more