Book...The Color of Money

L

Low500

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Just finished reading the book.
Far superior to the movie, in my opinion. Great plot in the book with some good romance in it and a happy ending.
Why oh why didn't Scorcese listen to Grady and do the movie the better way. A way which would enhance the game instead of showing it to be seedy and crummy with dumping and all the usual stuff.
Grady was right about the film. You don't take a kid working in a toy store, take him on the road for a few weeks and he ends up beating real players.
And you don't take an alcoholic who's been out of serious action for 25 years, never played 9-Ball at all, and in a month he's beating real players either.
Does anyone else share my opinion of this book vs the film?
:thumbup:
 
Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
Low500 said:
Just finished reading the book.
Far superior to the movie, in my opinion. Great plot in the book with some good romance in it and a happy ending.
Why oh why didn't Scorcese listen to Grady and do the movie the better way. A way which would enhance the game instead of showing it to be seedy and crummy with dumping and all the usual stuff.
Grady was right about the film. You don't take a kid working in a toy store, take him on the road for a few weeks and he ends up beating real players.
And you don't take an alcoholic who's been out of serious action for 25 years, never played 9-Ball at all, and in a month he's beating real players either.
Does anyone else share my opinion of this book vs the film?
:thumbup:
Click to expand...

Haven't read the book but ( and I've posted about it in other threads ), IMHO, absolutely the worst film about pool ever made. On myriad levels. Just total BS. And Scorcese is in my top 3 directors all time. Horrible film.
 
Bic D

Bic D

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Michael Andros said:
Haven't read the book but ( and I've posted about it in other threads ), IMHO, absolutely the worst film about pool ever made. On myriad levels. Just total BS. And Scorcese is in my top 3 directors all time. Horrible film.
Click to expand...

I'm retired from law enforcement so if I'm forced to watch a show/movie that is anything related to the law...I too find 99% of them awful and many times unwatchable.(Only 1 show nailed it) This is obviously b/c I spent my whole adult life doing something that someone is trying to recreate on film adding bullshit fillers.

The same goes with The Color of Money and the people who really know whats going on. However, the majority of viewers didn't spend their life in pool halls and don't know the the lack reality that this movie possessed.

I'm not sure of the numbers but I would imagine that The Color of Money brought more new players and money into the game than any other pool movie ever made.
 
Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
Bic D said:
I'm retired from law enforcement so if I'm forced to watch a show/movie that is anything related to the law...I too find 99% of them awful and many times unwatchable.(Only 1 show nailed it) This is obviously b/c I spent my whole adult life doing something that someone is trying to recreate on film adding bullshit fillers.

The same goes with The Color of Money and the people who really know whats going on. However, the majority of viewers didn't spend their life in pool halls and don't know the the lack reality that this movie possessed.

I'm not sure of the numbers but I would imagine that The Color of Money brought more new players and money into the game than any other pool movie ever made.
Click to expand...

Possibly. And if so, good for it and, more importantly, good for pool. Point well taken. Horrible film.
 
pt109

pt109

WO double hemlock
Silver Member
Michael Andros said:
Haven't read the book but ( and I've posted about it in other threads ), IMHO, absolutely the worst film about pool ever made. On myriad levels. Just total BS. And Scorcese is in my top 3 directors all time. Horrible film.
Click to expand...

Michael, you really should read the book....it was excellent for a pool player.

....just one scene....

...an older Fast Eddie shows up at a nine ball tournament....nobody knows him...
...but as he warms up, they can see that he knows the game well....
...then his first break in a match, he pops them and doesn’t make a ball...
...someone in the bleachers says “Straight pool player.” :rolleyes:

Walter Tevis knew his subject....he was one of us
 
Runner

Runner

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
It's Hollywood... same goes for films about rock music and bands.. there always has
to be a dramatization to fit their mold, so you get crap like "Rock Star".

While I think COM helped get people into pool, it has so many things that ring false.
I sure would have liked more of Eddie's backstory after the Hustler... too much Vincent
shenanigans.

BTW, how much did Eddie beat Fats out of in their final match?... they started at
3K a game, and played until 6 AM, when fats quit.. is it in the book?
 
C

ChrisinNC

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Low500 said:
Just finished reading the book.
Far superior to the movie, in my opinion. Great plot in the book with some good romance in it and a happy ending.
Why oh why didn't Scorcese listen to Grady and do the movie the better way. A way which would enhance the game instead of showing it to be seedy and crummy with dumping and all the usual stuff.
Grady was right about the film. You don't take a kid working in a toy store, take him on the road for a few weeks and he ends up beating real players.
And you don't take an alcoholic who's been out of serious action for 25 years, never played 9-Ball at all, and in a month he's beating real players either.
Does anyone else share my opinion of this book vs the film?
:thumbup:
Click to expand...
It is hard to figure after reading "The Color of Money" book, where the movie came from? Totally different, as I recall. The character of Fats was not even in the movie, but was a major character in the book. Seems like it is so different that they could even come out with a new movie that would closely depict the book.

"The Hustler" book was somewhat different to the movie as well, but not nearly as drastically different than "The Color of Money" movie was from the book that preceded it.
 
Bavafongoul

Bavafongoul

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
The book was great but the acting performances by George Scott,
Piper Laurie & of course, Paul Newman seemed so authentic & masterful.

I played at Ames back in the early 60's and the film realistically portrayed
the ambience and feel of real action and big money pool games back then.

IMO, the film brings everything to life and again, the acting was so great &
filmed in B&W only made it all the more nostalgic to enjoy......The film wins!
 
benny-the-blade

benny-the-blade

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Bic D said:
I'm retired from law enforcement so if I'm forced to watch a show/movie that is anything related to the law...I too find 99% of them awful and many times unwatchable.(Only 1 show nailed it) This is obviously b/c I spent my whole adult life doing something that someone is trying to recreate on film adding bullshit fillers.

The same goes with The Color of Money and the people who really know whats going on. However, the majority of viewers didn't spend their life in pool halls and don't know the the lack reality that this movie possessed.

I'm not sure of the numbers but I would imagine that The Color of Money brought more new players and money into the game than any other pool movie ever made.
Click to expand...

So which cop show "nailed it"?
 
Echelon

Echelon

The hill hill thrilla
Silver Member
I thought the same thing, why didnt they follow the book like they did with the hustler. Did some digging a while back and most point to Paul making all the changes from the original book, and who can make the color of money without Fast Eddie?

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
 
haystj

haystj

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
Bic D said:
I'm retired from law enforcement so if I'm forced to watch a show/movie that is anything related to the law...I too find 99% of them awful and many times unwatchable.(Only 1 show nailed it)
Click to expand...



Which one?
 
o.g. (old guy)

o.g. (old guy)

mark
Silver Member
It's been many years since I've read TCOM. I remember liking the book, much better than the movie. However, if I remember correctly there was a lot of stuff on quilting in the book (I think Eddie's girlfriend was into it) really dragged down the story and IMO should have been left out.
 
Bic D

Bic D

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
benny-the-blade said:
So which cop show "nailed it"?
Click to expand...

I didn't see the show when it first aired as it was only later when another retired friend told me I should really check out The Wire.

The series was absolutely spot on in terms of the internal and external politics associated with law enforcement, the backstabbing among the rank and file, the favoritism among officers who have juice within the department etc..

This series could have been filmed at my department. In fact...I was many of those characters throughout my career. I recently met Sonja Sohn who played the female Narc in this series and I asked about the accuracy and she said that they had 2 retired Baltimore homicide detectives on set as technical advisers.

I've watched the series twice and counted about 3 things that weren't really accurate in 5 seasons.
 
rossaroni

rossaroni

AzB Gold Member
Gold Member
Silver Member
Michael Andros said:
Haven't read the book but ( and I've posted about it in other threads ), IMHO, absolutely the worst film about pool ever made. On myriad levels. Just total BS. And Scorcese is in my top 3 directors all time. Horrible film.
Click to expand...

I am guessing when you say it is the worst film about pool ever made, that you are just talking about the more mainstream movies.....Hustler, COM, Pool Hall Junkies.

There is no way this is the worst movie about pool ever if you include some of the lesser known pool movies.....Stick Men, Kiss Shot, Shooting Gallery, etc. If you think that COM is horrible, you would probably go crazy watching some of these movies. :)
 
Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
rossaroni said:
I am guessing when you say it is the worst film about pool ever made, that you are just talking about the more mainstream movies.....Hustler, COM, Pool Hall Junkies.

There is no way this is the worst movie about pool ever if you include some of the lesser known pool movies.....Stick Men, Kiss Shot, Shooting Gallery, etc. If you think that COM is horrible, you would probably go crazy watching some of these movies. :)
Click to expand...

I didn't say it was the worst pool film ever made, I said *in my humble opinion* it was the worst pool film ever made. MONUMENTAL difference. Just because its my opinion something is either good, bad or indifferent has no bearing on whether that thing really is any of the three. I could easily say, in my opinion, arsenic is a tasty and nutritional bedtime snack. Certainly would not make it so.

But to reiterate, IMHO, CoM is one of the worst films ever made and, hands down, the worst film about pool.

Doesn't make me right, simply my opinion. :wink:
 
Michael Andros

Michael Andros

tiny balls, GIANT pockets
Silver Member
Bavafongoul said:
The book was great but the acting performances by George Scott,
Piper Laurie & of course, Paul Newman seemed so authentic & masterful.

I played at Ames back in the early 60's and the film realistically portrayed
the ambience and feel of real action and big money pool games back then.

IMO, the film brings everything to life and again, the acting was so great &
filmed in B&W only made it all the more nostalgic to enjoy......The film wins!
Click to expand...

IMHO, The Hustler is one of the best films ever made and, HANDS DOWN the best film ever made about pool. I think GCS, Newman or Piper Laurie or even Gleason, could ( and perhaps should ) have won academy awards for their roles. Just a great piece of film-making, all the way around.
 
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M

mrinsatiable

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
really?

Is it really that much worse than pool hall junkies?

At least color of money increased pool interest during the time it was playing in the theaters and bumped up the demand for Balabushka cues.

the only thing Pool hall junkies only was famous for was Ricky Schroder playing with a fiberglass cuetec.




Michael Andros said:
Haven't read the book but ( and I've posted about it in other threads ), IMHO, absolutely the worst film about pool ever made. On myriad levels. Just total BS. And Scorcese is in my top 3 directors all time. Horrible film.
Click to expand...
 
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