Regie:
Martin ScorseseDrehbuch:
Richard PriceKamera:
Michael BallhausMusik:
Robbie RobertsonBesetzung:
Paul Newman, Tom Cruise, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Helen Shaver, John Turturro, Bill Cobbs, Randall Arney, Elizabeth Bracco, Vito D'Ambrosio (mehr)Inhalte(1)
Der alternde Eddie Felson, ein Genie des Poolbillards, ist im Laufe der Jahre zu einem eleganten Zyniker geworden. Er spielt nicht mehr selbst, sondern investiert Geld in talentierte Spieler. Eines Tages entdeckt er in einer Bar zufällig den jungen Vincent, von dessen Begabung er fasziniert ist. Er beschließt, ihn perfekt auszubilden - doch das geht nicht ohne Konflikte ab. Der jugendliche Elan Vincents und die resignative Haltung Eddies prallen aufeinander ... (kabel eins)
(mehr)Kritiken (6)
Ganz sicher ein guter Film aus dem Umfeld von Billardduellen mit Newman und Cruise an der Spitze. Mich fasziniert und interessiert jedoch gerade dieses Umfeld nicht sonderlich, und so habe ich mich einen geraumen Teil des Films lang ziemlich gelangweilt. Die Leistung von Paul Newman erscheint mir nicht besonders außergewöhnlich, um mit einem Oscar belohnt zu werden. Doch damals war ich zwei Jahre alt, und so ahne ich nicht, wer sich zusammen mit ihm beworben hat. Scorseses Filme aber will ich ganz sicher weiterhin ansehen.
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Cruise’s dandy may be as dumb as a cue stick, but he has talent and guts, and that's why Hustler Newman is returning to the game after years (oh, and also the prescription sunglasses). And the female counterparts? They’re there just to console and manage their inflated egos, which is incredibly necessary when the mood is that winning money is twice as sweet as earning it. Michael Ballhaus's camera is perfect, whether it’s capturing smoky pool halls, the game itself, or helping to capture Newman’s aura as he finally goes for the gold statue on his seventh attempt. The problem lies in the narrative dynamic, where the ambitions of a sports film and drama are not fully realized, and the clacking of the hardened plastic balls eventually starts to sound monotonous. Nevertheless, I’m surprised that a collection of pool wisdom from Eddie Felson wasn’t released after this. There would certainly be one specially dedicated to Turturro’s character: "If you want to win, don’t powder your nose, but your hands."
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Scorsese’s greatest commercial success prior to Cape Fear is essentially a film of the 1980s in many respects. As a sequel to The Hustler, The Color of Money fits in with the fashion of sequels at the time, with Tom Cruise, enjoying his new-found fame thanks to Top Gun, in the second-biggest role of his career to that point, and is a very cool spectacle thanks to the music and cinematography. The Colour of Money is not a typical, somewhat forgettable product of the eighties, but a distinctive work by a filmmaker with a rather clear vision. Scorsese’s films have been cool at least since Mean Streets, so the (audio-)visual style here was not a reaction to the period demand for outwardly bombastic spectacles; in fact, the opposite was true – the times finally caught up with Scorsese. The casting of the ascendant Cruise could also have led to false conclusions. Though the screenplay doesn’t favour either him or Newman, it definitely isn’t the then-desired variation on the story in which a young pup learns new tricks from an old, incorrigible dog. Furthermore, the relationship between the cynical Eddie and the brash Vincent reflects developments in the film industry as such, specifically the redistribution of power in Hollywood: from the hands of the old guard into the paws of eager young yuppies. So, whereas Newman, who doesn’t have much room to rise (and, at the same time, doesn’t want to fall) practically has nothing else to do but recapitulate his career with nostalgia and put his life priorities in order, Cruise, who fittingly works in a toy store at the beginning, demonstrates with monumental arrogance and zero respect that, as he himself believes, no one has anything on him. Both of them are stubborn, but only the younger one is incorrigible. Because if I understood the last shot correctly, Eddie, after his plan to gain control of his apprentice (and as a bonus, make some money off of him) fails, not only returns to the game, but mainly returns to the game for the sake of the game itself. After many years of cynically hustling others and proving god knows what to himself, he is finally becoming a real king of pool. It doesn’t matter than his kingdom is roughly two square metres in size – it is where he has won and lost the most important battles of his life. The importance of this object covered in felt with the colour of money for both players is constantly emphasised by the camerawork, often at table height and reminiscent of the stroke of a pool cue with its abrupt approaches to the characters. Just as Newman can steal a scene in a moment with his charisma, Scorsese is able to create the necessary atmosphere in a just a few seconds and prepare us for the importance of the event that is about to happen. However, the truth is that the individual scenes, however imaginatively directed, are quite similar to each other in their resulting feeling and after two hours I was immensely grateful to finally get out of those smoky pool halls. Even so, The Color of Money is still a very, very stylish film with one of Newman’s best later performances. 75%
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(weniger)
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A film full of life's wisdom and truths of the universe we live in, cleverly, intelligently and Hollywood-ishly wrapped in pop culture garb acceptable to the masses. Eighties mainstream, but offering something a bit more than just light entertainment, from a very interesting and novel billiards environment. Paul Newman as a legend teaching Tom Cruise as a rookie. Who would have thought back then that Cruise would maybe outgrow him in real life.
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Martin Scorsese has a gift for filmmaking. He is able to shoot something that is intense despite its relatively narrow popularity among people. By filming something that doesn't interest everyone, but manages to turn it into an interesting, great film, it is only proof of how capable he is as a filmmaker. "The Color of Money" is about billiards, seemingly, but above all, it is about where the effort to make a little money ends, even if not morally, and where something begins that I would call the end of humanity. Paul Newman shows what acting is, and Tom Cruise shows that he is not just a good American boy. It is not a film that knocks you off your feet, but it is something that at the very least impresses you with its sense of immoral moralizing.
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