"The Color of Money."
No, not a remake of Scorsese's film, but a film that remains faithful to the book. For those who haven't read it or might not know, Scorsese's film is a completely different story altogether. In Tevis's book, there's no Vincent, Carmen, or Grady Seasons. Eddie is not a liquor salesman, but a middle-aged divorced pool room owner who is undergoing something of mid-life crisis and decides to once again devote his life to pool.
The opening scene has Eddie reuniting with Fats on a beach in Florida, asking Fats if he'd be interested in playing a series of exhibition matches against him for a television production company. Fats drills him in the first match, 150-9. Eddie has clearly lost his stroke. Nonetheless, Eddie's passion has returned and he's back on the table practicing his heart out.
However, the re-match with Fats is simply a sub-plot. In this installment, Fats is more of a mentor than an opponent. The main narrative concerns Eddie's desire to regain his lost talent and become the best. Unfortunately for Eddie, no one plays straight pool, his best game, anymore, so if he wants to get back on top, he is going to have to learn a game he loathes: 9 Ball, which he calls "A kid's game."
He doesn't dive into world-class 9 Ball right away. Today's players are too good and Eddie is still out of stroke. Plus, since his divorce has drained him, he needs to find a way to make some cash. At the advice of Fats, and with a new girl at his side, Eddie starts out his journey as low-level roadman, playing 8 Ball in Bars. Piece by piece, his is game is coming back to him. These bar players are good, but they're no Fast Eddie, and he's laying 'em to waste with that custom Balabushka. He feels it now, but is he good enough? One night he befriends a kind Japanese player he just beat out of 7 grand, and asks the man if he could compete with the best 9 players in the world. The man flatly answers, "No."
Tevis's writing doesn't simply move from plot point to plot point. He takes time to describe all the minute details of the game that a non-pool playing reader might not care about. One key scene has Eddie recovering an old pool table, and Tevis creates a feeling of ceremony in the way he meticulously describes the process. A lesser writer would've spent maybe a paragraph and moved back into the action as quickly as possible. Tevis, on the otherhand, spends a good 5 pages, creating a wonderful piece of prose. It's obvious Tevis loves the game, its characters, and its mystique.
As a film, this could never be a blockbuster. If Scorsese originally wanted to stay faithful to the book, there's no doubt Hollywood influenced him to blow up apart Tevis's story to make room for lead characters who can be played by young, attractive actors. The book version is deliberate, meditative, reflective, and thematically deals with aging and self-actualization. This doesn't sell tickets.
But, there's always Independent film, and this would make a good one. Not a bare-bones indie like "Chalk", a film I like, but which I admit is inaccesible for the average movie-goer. It's too avant-garde for the general audience. This would need a modest budget and a professional cast. Big stars often balance their big-budget work by doing Indies. Someone like George Clooney would work great for the middle-aged Eddie Felson.
And of course you'd have to change the title. Personally, I like "Felson."
Anyhow, just a brainstorm. It probably will never happen, but if I had an extra 5 million lying around, you'd all be seeing the film next year.
No, not a remake of Scorsese's film, but a film that remains faithful to the book. For those who haven't read it or might not know, Scorsese's film is a completely different story altogether. In Tevis's book, there's no Vincent, Carmen, or Grady Seasons. Eddie is not a liquor salesman, but a middle-aged divorced pool room owner who is undergoing something of mid-life crisis and decides to once again devote his life to pool.
The opening scene has Eddie reuniting with Fats on a beach in Florida, asking Fats if he'd be interested in playing a series of exhibition matches against him for a television production company. Fats drills him in the first match, 150-9. Eddie has clearly lost his stroke. Nonetheless, Eddie's passion has returned and he's back on the table practicing his heart out.
However, the re-match with Fats is simply a sub-plot. In this installment, Fats is more of a mentor than an opponent. The main narrative concerns Eddie's desire to regain his lost talent and become the best. Unfortunately for Eddie, no one plays straight pool, his best game, anymore, so if he wants to get back on top, he is going to have to learn a game he loathes: 9 Ball, which he calls "A kid's game."
He doesn't dive into world-class 9 Ball right away. Today's players are too good and Eddie is still out of stroke. Plus, since his divorce has drained him, he needs to find a way to make some cash. At the advice of Fats, and with a new girl at his side, Eddie starts out his journey as low-level roadman, playing 8 Ball in Bars. Piece by piece, his is game is coming back to him. These bar players are good, but they're no Fast Eddie, and he's laying 'em to waste with that custom Balabushka. He feels it now, but is he good enough? One night he befriends a kind Japanese player he just beat out of 7 grand, and asks the man if he could compete with the best 9 players in the world. The man flatly answers, "No."
Tevis's writing doesn't simply move from plot point to plot point. He takes time to describe all the minute details of the game that a non-pool playing reader might not care about. One key scene has Eddie recovering an old pool table, and Tevis creates a feeling of ceremony in the way he meticulously describes the process. A lesser writer would've spent maybe a paragraph and moved back into the action as quickly as possible. Tevis, on the otherhand, spends a good 5 pages, creating a wonderful piece of prose. It's obvious Tevis loves the game, its characters, and its mystique.
As a film, this could never be a blockbuster. If Scorsese originally wanted to stay faithful to the book, there's no doubt Hollywood influenced him to blow up apart Tevis's story to make room for lead characters who can be played by young, attractive actors. The book version is deliberate, meditative, reflective, and thematically deals with aging and self-actualization. This doesn't sell tickets.
But, there's always Independent film, and this would make a good one. Not a bare-bones indie like "Chalk", a film I like, but which I admit is inaccesible for the average movie-goer. It's too avant-garde for the general audience. This would need a modest budget and a professional cast. Big stars often balance their big-budget work by doing Indies. Someone like George Clooney would work great for the middle-aged Eddie Felson.
And of course you'd have to change the title. Personally, I like "Felson."
Anyhow, just a brainstorm. It probably will never happen, but if I had an extra 5 million lying around, you'd all be seeing the film next year.
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