Finding myself in a 'Paul Newman' mood lately. Recently re-watched 'The Verdict' a few weeks ago, then caught 'Hud' the other night on TCM, and then while shopping at Target the other day, I couldn't resist the 5.50 price tag on 'The Color of Money' in order to add to my Scorcese collection.
The first time I watched this I would have been 24 years old, and saw it in the company of a friend 20 years my senior who fancied himself a 'pool afficienado', and I don't think I totally got the movie. It was flashy, it had a lot of great music, but being younger, I think I found myself seeing it as a 'wisdom vs. brash youth' flick with a particularly unlikable young Tom Cruise. But over the years I have come to have a certain fondness for this movie, and perhaps a clearer understanding. Like a fine scotch, it gets mellower with age.
At the time I remember Scorcese getting a lot of grief for 'selling out' with this picture, it had two big hollywood stars, a lot of hollywood money behind it, it was a 'sequel' to a well respected film from the sixties (The Hustler), it seemed completely out of character with his usual style of filmmaking, very little violence or profanity, none of his usual stable of regular actors, I mean, he never uses the Stone's 'Gimme Shelter' even once. But even with a thick blanket of hollywood glitz, a bit of Scorcese still manages to find its way onto the screen, some fantastic music with the help of Robbie Robertson (who he worked with on 'The Last Waltz'), the usual expert editing help of Thelma Schoonmaker, some great supporting characterization work by John Turturro & a memorable short scene with Forrest Whittaker. Once again, Paul Newman turns in a great subtle performance in this story of redemption and self delusion, as a man so beaten down by the world, yet convincing himself that he has risen above it thanks to cynicism and a calloused heart, and only realizing it when he creates a monster in his own image. Some may feel cheated by the absense of a 'final show down', but they are missing the point, the pat hollywood ending that you've been expecting is the ultimate 'hustle', and you would have hated yourself in the morning had you gotten it.