Inclined to disagree. I liked the ending, and thought it fit well with the character development.
One thing I loved about The Color of Money was its skillful analysis of dumping as a means of setting up action. From Eddie’s vantage point, dumping went from being an undeniable and on-the-level aspect of betting on pool to an objectionable and regrettable practice. Vincent, at first, refused to dump, and it took a lot of disciplining from both his girlfriend and Eddie to get him to start doing it. By the film’s end, dumping was an art that Vincent.had mastered.
The Atlantic City tournament was where Eddie did a little soul searching, and when he turned down a shot at having a piece of Vincent's action in the green room, it was proof positive that he no longer wished to be part of pool's seedier side (a point later reinforced by his refusal to take his "share" of what Vincent earned by dumping against him). In Vincent, Eddie saw some of himself, and what he saw repulsed him. Eddie now wanted to win on merit, rather than through a hustle, and his passion for winning fair and square showed in his exuberance in his tournament matches.
All of a sudden, he was the Eddie that beat Minnesota Fats through excellence, rather than the Eddie who had successfully hustled many, and his self-esteem seemed to be peaking just when he learned that Vincent had dumped in their match, a clear blow to his ego.
Suddenly, the tournament no longer represented Eddie's best chance to regain his self-esteem. Why, one might have wondered, was he practicing after he forfeited his match in the tournament? Because he was preparing for the only match out there that mattered to him......the one against Vincent.....and his resolve to play and win that match was his new raison d'etre.
I thought it was a great ending!
