Deacon's Movie Analysis of the Week

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

This is the first in what I hope to make a weekly series of articles on the boards (this is appearing both on TSM and new SNKT boards). The purpose of these articles is to promote serious discussion of not just the film I’m writing on in particular, but film in general. By examining specific films the hope is that we can have examples to explore film making techniques and popular culture by. This is not a straight review, it is an analysis. With that being said, yes there will be “spoilers” involved as I wish to discuss the film as a whole. It is also my hope that those who have not seen the film will be encouraged to not only see the movie, but ask questions and make comments regarding material in this analysis. For those who have seen the movie, the hope is that you will share some of your thoughts and feelings, even contradictory to my own, in order to promote discussion and greater examination of the film.

 

While I thought of starting off with my favorite movie, The Searchers, I felt there might not be a lot of interest in a John Wayne western (although the film has been mentioned on the boards recently and I will do it at some point). So I decided to go with my second favorite film, which I hope is a little more accessible, The Color of Money. This is my first attempt at an in depth analysis of this nature, so I expect some growing pains and changes in style and format as the weeks go by. At this time, to make ideas a little more regimented and easier to sift through, I am going to divide this column into parts and look at certain elements of the film, one at a time.

 

STORY

Released in 1986, this is a sequel to the 1961 film The Hustler. In the original, Paul Newman played a pool shark by the name of “Fast Eddie” Felson who works the pool circuit well enough to finally combat the legend of all legends, Minnesota Fats (played by Jackie Gleason). Fifteen years later, Felson is a broken down boozehound who plays sugar daddy to local pool sharks. His eye catches a young kid by the name of Vincent (Tom Cruise) who has all the skill, but none of the smarts to make money as a hustler. Felson takes Vincent under his wing and sets off cross country with him and his girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantinio) to work the billiard halls in order to pick up some money and experience leading to a big 9-ball tournament in Atlantic City. Felson finds that not only does Vincent not take direction well, but old feelings stirring in himself for the sport-nay, the art-of pool and the hustle. Vincent and Eddie eventually go their separate ways, but one knows that they are destined to BUTT heads in a showdown in Atlantic City. Martin Scorsese directs the movie and he actually took some flack from critics at the time for doing a sub-par job. I’ll address this later. The movie was nominated for four Oscars, including best art direction, best screenplay, best supporting actress for Mastrantonio and best actor for Newman, which he finally won after six previous nominations.

 

SCRIPT

The script is by my favorite screenwriter, Richard Price (Clockers, Ransom, the new Shaft). Price was nominated for an Oscar for his work here and deservedly so. This movie is the perfect example of Price’s work. His key assets are smart and specific dialogue, which really shines here. Every character speaks differently, but all with a unified feel of the “world” in which they inhabit. Phrases are turned in such a way that nearly every word out of Eddie’s mouth is quotable. The mantra of the movie is said by Eddie early on, “pool excellence is not about excellent pool.” It’s that type of simple logic that fills the movie and is the wit of Eddie’s wisdom.

 

The scene where Eddie hustles Vincent in the restaurant is all in the writing. He bets Vincent that a guy talking to a girl at the bar will leave within thirty seconds, and he’s only off by a couple of seconds. He then bets Vincent that he can get the girl to leave with him within two minutes and he does with no problem. We then find out that Eddie knows the girl and knew that the man at the bar had a night job he had to get to. The con is revealed naturally through the conversation Eddie has with the girl and it really helps to demonstrate how smart and slick Eddie is. A lot of writers would have hammered that home with straight exposition, but all the information you need through out the film is right there between the lines of dialogue. Then later when Carmen figures out the con, it helps to show how much on par with Eddie she is. Then after that, we find that Vincent still hasn’t figured it out. The real battle isn’t Eddie trying to control Vincent, but between Eddie and Carmen trying to control Vincent, while he remains clueless.

 

The fact that Vincent works in a toy store is simply genius. It says so much about the childlike naivety of his character. Yet, there is something endearing and sweet in Cruise’s performance and the way Vincent is written that makes him nearly likable. One then thinks that Vincent “grows up” at the end of the film, although you realize he’s just turned into a mean little kid. It’s a shallow and deep character at the same time, tricky to write, but tailor made for Cruise.

 

The element I like most about Price’s writing is how he so nails the jargon of whatever subject he’s dealing with and makes that a way to not only construct the world of the film, but to advance themes. Eddie gives Vincent a cue and it’s not just any cue, it’s not a really nice or expensive cue, it’s a “Balabushka.” That name is all you need to know; it’s all in the specifics to give a feel of realism. It’s not who the “best guy” is, it’s who the “heaviest guy” is. Eddie tells Vincent to leave the Balabushka in the car and play with a house cue to help set the con. Little touches in slang and how things are done that set the world of the film and submerges you into pool hustling culture.

 

My only problem with the script is that I would have like to have seen more time devoted to actual cons. “Two brothers and a stranger” is about the only con they’re seen running and while the film is more about the characters, I feel that some “Sting” like moments are missing to really flesh the world of pool hustling out. Although, as I said, the movie is not so much about pool as it is about Eddie getting back on his feet and the character interactions, which are top notch.

 

ACTING

It’s interesting to trace the character arc of Felson from The Hustler to The Color of Money, but I’m not going to concern myself with that here. The Color of Money is a stand alone movie and it’s been years since I’ve seen The Hustler all the way through. I would hate to make comparisons between the two movies and be wrong. Needless to say Newman’s characterization is so subtle that I could write twenty pages on just comparing the performances after watching the movies back to back. I would not call it his best performance (which lies between younger Newman in HUD and older Newman in The Verdict. I would also put his work in Nobody’s Fool and Cool Hand Luke above the one here), but is the performance for which he finally won the Oscar, a sympathy win or not. Newman underplays to a fantastic degree and conveys so much in body language and facial expression, even when you can’t see his eyes behind rose-colored glasses. Newman’s facial reactions when Vincent is trying to talk Julian into another game are priceless. One can see his amusement and the wheels in his mind turning.

 

This is one of Cruise’s best performances as it plays up his natural qualities, namely being a smarmy dork who you know would be dangerous if he had a clue. Then at the end when he gets one, Cruise turns that twinkle in his eye and grin on his face to something almost scary. Cruise and Newman have nice chemistry between one another. Every film has a turning point and that chemistry really helps to set off the one here, which occurs where Eddie and Vincent are playing each other in the run down pool hall. The dialogue and direction are pitch perfect, but it’s how Newman and Cruise deliver their lines and play off of each other that clues one into the fact that the film is about ready to take a shift. Eddie is starting to get the old feeling for the game back, while Vincent’s natural cockiness and mean streak starts to creep through.

 

The supporting performances are less noticeable, but still solid. Mastrantonio as Carmen is the perfect go between of Eddie and Vincent. She’s tough and smart, yet still a little gullible and ultimately her love for Vincent links her to him too tightly and dooms her in a new way from when she was jumping from guy to guy looking for the best deal. She’s got a nice ass too. Forest Whitaker has a brief, but memorable role as a hustler who hustles Eddie. He plays the whole sequence like he’s hopped up on coke and babbles on about random bullshit that at first seems odd, but it all plays into his con. John Turturro has a small role as a small time hustler who doesn’t realize just how small time he is. Helen Shaver is pretty much wasted as a love interest for Eddie and never has much to do. A lot of real pool players appear in the film to add a sense of authenticity, including Keith McCready as top money player Grady Seasons. As an actor, McCready is a good pool player.

 

DIRECTION/CINEMATOGRAPHY

The cinematography is smooth as silk with a real snap and flow to it. Early in the film there’s a shot of Vincent breaking a rack that zooms in slightly that has a seamless jump cut to a zoom on Eddie. It’s timed so tightly with the sound and motion of the break that the two shots have such a flow into each other. That’s just masterful workmanship. The film is constantly dark and smoky, but never dank and so black you can’t see the backgrounds. There are lesser directors who have no idea how to light just right to get that clarity of visual while still obtaining the right mood.

 

A lot of critics at the time thought that Scorsese’s direction was a little flat, but I think it works well and is one of his most understated efforts. He knows he has a strong script and actors and lets them stand alone while doing the little technical things that allows both elements to shine. There are a lot of really nice tracking shots in the film that are used just in the right places to set off the action. There’s a parallel throughout the movie where you see the break and then on the next break, the shot stays or moves in on Eddie. A smart choice by Scorsese as Newman’s facial expressions help to set the situations nicely and it builds to the closing shot. When they’re running the Two Brothers and a Stranger con and the bartenders says, “do you want to go a thousand?” The scene freezes, the camera sweeps around, a helicopter and siren is heard in the background and it’s such a “gotcha!” moment beautifully punctuated by the choice in direction. It’s not only using the strengths of your actors, but good construction in how the film is set up.

 

Scorsese breaks out the montage sequences in the middle of the film and it seems almost like a device to move the film along and keep it from running long. The first hour is pretty much just straight sequences and then the second hour is one montage of pool playing after another. They’re all shot great and work well within context, but taken as a whole with the movie the juxtaposition doesn’t sit quite well with me. I felt that maybe these sequences could have been threaded a little better into the narrative action and I do since the rhythm of the movie breaking up a bit once they reach the 9-ball tourney.

 

The Atlantic City tournament oddly reminds me of the arm wrestling tournament in Over the Top in the way it’s shot and scenes are composed. That’s a compliment as those are the best scenes by far in that movie. You get such a feel for the players and atmosphere and it’s where the montages are most needed and probably edited the best. Scorsese does get a little too fancy for his own good in a couple spots, like when he uses the reflection of the eight ball to show Eddie deciding to throw in the towel. The climax might feel a bit abrupt on first viewing, but the movie teaches us that winning is not important and the journey is more important than the destination. It doesn’t matter if Eddie wins, it matters that he’s back.

 

SOUNDTRACK

The soundtrack is a great mix of classic rock and original pieces with a bluesy-rock flair. The credits are done to a slick tune composed by Robbie Robertson, which really helps to set the tone of the movie. The movie also includes “One More Night” by Phil Collins, “Two Strangers and a Friend” by Mark Knopler and “It’s in the Way that You Use It” by Eric Clapton. There is also the very memorable scene set to “Werewolves of London” when Vincent cleans house in a poolroom and kills the city for Eddie to hustle. It’s a great little set piece that is set off by such a quirky choice in music. I love how when the line “he’ll rip your lungs out, Jim,” comes up Cruise looks back at the man he’s playing with such a devilish gleam and the way he runs his hand through his locks on the “and his hair was perfect” line. The music is expertly used to set off quiet scenes and add punch to the pool games. The movie honestly has one of the best uses of a modern pop/rock soundtrack that I’ve ever seen. They just always find the right song for the right scene.

 

THAT’S A WRAP

I love the movie for its attitude and coolness more than anything. The whole movie is slickly made and shot with an air of dirty allure. It makes you want to not only shoot pool, but be a two bit hustler living on your wits. Newman’s performance grows on me more every time I see the flick as I pick up more little touches he puts into his performance while just weaving through the narrative with such a calm assurance. Cruise on the other hand can be grating and annoying in spots (I picked up several mannerisms and voice modulations that must be where Jimmy Fallon got his Tom Cruise impersonation), but the role is perfect for him and Scorsese and Newman both know how to keep him in check. The script is really the selling point for me, especially the dialogue. I would recommend any aspiring screenwriter to pick up the script for the film and just study the dialogue. It’s smart, specific, realistic and polished. I think the film might be a little too laid back for it’s own good, especially when you see the name of Newman, Cruise and Scorsese on the marquee. It’s a movie you have to watch several times and let grow on you while you take it all in and think parts through. It’s not a sledgehammer break, it’s a slow rolling cut in the side pocket.

Edited August 17, 2003 by WrestlingDeacon

[ArkhamGlobe 0]

Very interesting analysis, well written and well thought out. I can't really make any comments on the film since it's been so long since I've seen it, so long in fact that I can hardly remember what I thought about it. The things I can remember the best about it was that I thought it had fabulously lit cinematography and Newmans performance, and this nice, gritty overall mood, though I also remember having some problems with it, what they were I can't quite remember though.

 

Anyway, good job, I am hope to see more of these.

[Kaertos 0]

I'm glad you noted the cinematography. This was the first movie I ever saw that made me say, "Wow, that was gorgeous!" and watch it again to see all of the camera moves and how the placement and movement of the camera along with the lighting almost becomes a character in the film.

[WrestlingDeacon 0]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I defintely agree that the strongest points of the movie are Newman's acting and the cinematography and lighting. You usually don't see a film with such confined sets with such brilliant camera work and epic cinematography. Definetly worth watching the movie for alone.