“Fast” Eddie Felson is a former pool hustler turned successful liquor salesman in Chicago. He still stakes bets for players, including fellow hustler Julian, who is outmatched at nine-ball by the young and charismatic Vincent Lauria. Recognizing Vincent’s skill, and his girlfriend Carmen’s inexperience at luring players to lose money, Eddie tells the couple of their excellent potential for hustling. Carmen visits Eddie alone to inquire about his interest in Vincent. Finding him working at Child World, Eddie invites Vincent to leave the next day for six weeks of hustling on the road, culminating in a nine-ball tournament in Atlantic City. Manipulating Vincent’s insecurities about Carmen and giving him a valuable Balabushka cue stick, Eddie persuades him to accept his offer. Eddie’s abrupt departure upsets Julian, as well as Eddie’s girlfriend Janelle. Vincent and Carmen hit the road with Eddie in his Cadillac, visiting a series of pool halls. Serving as Vincent’s, Eddie attempts to teach him the art of hustling, but Vincent chafes at having to play below his ability. At a pool hall run by his old acquaintance Orvis, Eddie becomes fed up with Vincent’s arrogance and leaves him. Rebuking Carmen for her advances toward him, Eddie reminds her they are partners with a mutual business interest in Vincent. Eddie returns to find Vincent grandstanding to “Werewolves of London”, beating the pool hall’s best player but scaring off a wealthier. Eddie and Vincent talk frankly, agreeing Vincent must curb his ego if they are to succeed. Eddie and Carmen struggle to rein in Vincent’s showboating, and his jealousy when they pose as lovers during a scam. After a string of successful games, Vincent plays the famed Grady Seasons, but is directed by Eddie to the game, to inflate the odds against Vincent in Atlantic City. Goaded by Grady, Vincent almost fails to throw the game, and Eddie is inspired to play again. After some success, Eddie is taken in by a named Amos. Humiliated, Eddie leaves Vincent and Carmen with enough money to make it to Atlantic City, taking the Balabushka. Eddie refines his skills at Orvis’ pool hall, and gets a pair of corrective lens sunglasses. On a winning streak, he enters the Atlantic City tournament and runs into Vincent and Carmen, overhearing them arrange a bet with another player. Eddie, winning against Julian, and Vincent, beating Grady, are set to face each other. Janelle arrives to support Eddie, who triumphs against Vincent. As Eddie and Janelle celebrate, Vincent and Carmen surprise Eddie with $8,000 – his “cut” of Vincent’s winnings from intentionally losing their match. In his semifinal match, Eddie sees his reflection in the two-ball; disgruntled, he forfeits the game and returns Vincent’s money. With plans to live with Janelle, and determined to win legitimately, Eddie faces Vincent in a private match, declaring "I'm back!"
Scorsese has cited the influence of techniques and lighting in the 1947 Powell-Pressburger classic Black Narcissus in making the film. In particular he states that the extreme close ups of Tom Cruise around the pool table were inspired by those of the nuns in that film. Newman said that the best advice he was given by Scorsese was to "try not to be funny". Cruise performed most of his own shots. An exception was a 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. Cruise mentioned, to prepare for the role, he bought a pool table for his apartment and practiced for hours on end. Standing in for the extremely valuable "Balabushka" cue in the movie was actually a Joss J-18, made to resemble a classic Balabushka. Mike Sigel was technical director, and he and Ewa Mataya Laurance served as technical consultants and shot-performers on the film. Absent from the film is the character Minnesota Fats, played by Jackie Gleason in The Hustler. Newman later said that he had wanted the character to appear, but that none of the attempts to include him fit well into the story that was being written. According to Scorsese, Gleason apparently agreed with Newman's opinion that Minnesota Fats was not essential to the film's story. Scorsese said that Gleason was presented a draft of the script that had Fats worked into the narrative, but that upon reading it, Gleason declined to reprise the role because he felt that the character seemed to have been added as "an afterthought".
Opening voice-over
Reflecting the general theme of the film, director Martin Scorsese delivers an opening uncredited voiceover, describing the game of nine-ball, over a scene of cigarette smoke and a piece of cue chalk:
Soundtrack
The soundtrack to the motion picture was released by MCA Records in 1986. Track listing:
"My Baby's In Love With Another Guy" – Robert Palmer
"The Main Title" – Robbie Robertson
Release
The Color of Money held its world premiere at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City, NY, on October 8, 1986. The film was commercially released in the United States on October 17, 1986. The American release was limited to only select theaters throughout the country, with the film opening in more theaters during the next four weeks of its initial release. After its run, the film grossed $52,293,982 domestically.
Home media
The Color of Money was first released on DVD on March 14, 2000. The film was later released on Blu-ray on June 5, 2012. Neither of the releases contain any special features pertaining to the film itself.
Reception
Critical response
The film received positive critical response upon its release, though some critics thought that the film was an inferior followup to The Hustler. Based on 47 reviews collected by Rotten Tomatoes, the film received an 89% approval rating from critics, with an average score of 7.17/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "That it's inferior to the original goes without saying, but Paul Newman and Tom Cruise are a joy to watch, and Martin Scorsese's direction is typically superb". Metacritic reports an weighted average score of 77/100 based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Siskel and Ebert gave the film "two thumbs down", Scorsese's only film to receive such a review from the team.
