Movie: The Color of Money
I can’t add a lot to Dave Franklin’s article on Tom Cruise, in which he covered the excellent movie The Color of Money. This film is of course the sequel to Paul Newman’s classic Hustler.
With a movie starring these two superstars, the memorable scenes were bountiful, especially considering that the director was the great Martin Scorsese. The scene where Vincent busts his moves with his beloved Balabushka stick was as stunning as the accompanying soundtrack, The Werewolves of London. At that point, Tom Cruise was destined to be a superstar.
The memorable scene that I am referring to in this short tribute is the most controversial and to many, disappointing scenes in the movie. I am referring to, of course, the last scene in the movie. Finally, Fast Eddie is back on his game and it is time for the big showdown between Paul Newman the master, and Tom Cruise, the savant apprentice.
If you’ve seen the movie, you know what I’m talking about. Most viewers were disappointed and even angry at the abrupt ending of the movie. As for me, I thought it was a stroke of genius. They lag, and then Fast Eddie utters that famous line, “Hey, I’m back”, then fade to black. Some of us always want more from a great movie; we wish that it would never end. Some things are just better left to the imagination, and this was one.