Common Sense Note
Parents should know Eddie and Vincent make a living off of lying and manipulating for money, and Carmen manipulates by using her body. Eddie also threatens to beat up Carmen. Money is more important than everything else, despite the fact that Eddie seems to be mentoring Vincent. There is some strong language, smoking, and drinking.
Families can talk about whether manipulating for money is ever a good idea. If you have a talent, should you exploit it or simply try to be the best you can be? Is it true, as Eddie says, that "the best is the guy with the most"? What are your values and how would you handle someone offering to make you rich?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Heather Boerner
THE COLOR OF MONEY claims to be, as the title implies, about getting rich. But really it's about Paul Newman, as aging pool shark Fast Eddie Felson, who reckons with the life he's lived and the decisions he's made. Through the course of the film, he has to decide whether the line he's been giving hot shot Vincent (Tom Cruise) is true: "We're talking around things here: It ain't about pool. It ain't about sex. It ain't about love. It's about money. The best is the guy with the most."
Because it's really about a man coming to terms with his life, the true drama of the film will probably be lost on teens and younger viewers. They may, however, still enjoy the machismo involved in playing high-stakes pool and enjoy seeing what Tom Cruise was like before he was an embarrassment to middle-aged men and a threat to couches everywhere.
Fast Eddie is a liquor distributor with a loving woman and a nice Cadillac (back when that was considered a compliment), but he sees something in brash, cocky young pool hot shot Vincent. (Should we really be surprised that Cruise has always excelled at playing -- dare we say it? -- glib young men?) He takes Vincent and girlfriend Carmen (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) on the road to prepare him to shark his way through the 9-ball championship in Atlantic City. Along the way, childish Vincent must learn to reign in his "look at me!" cockiness and Eddie realizes that he still has the itch to play the game. But can he come back?
What's stunning about the film is the complexity Newman lends Eddie. He's likable and charming, even when he's being all Machiavellian. If any other actor were playing Eddie, he would have come across as a snake. Instead, the viewer ends up rooting for him and wishing him well. That's no small feat for a character and a film that seems on the surface to be about Wall Street-level "greed is good" morality.
If your teen enjoys this film, consider renting other Paul Newman favorites, such as The Sting and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean. To see a movie where Tom Cruise puts his bravado to good use, consider renting Born on the Fourth of July. For other movies about mentorships and relationships between men, consider the more kid-friendly The Karate Kid or the classic western Red River.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentOne view of Carmen nearly naked, couples are often seen in bed together, but nothing graphic. |
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ViolenceEddie threatens to beat up Carmen, some men beat Vincent when he can't pay for losing games. |
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LanguageSome strong language. |
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Message |
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Social BehaviorCharacters lie and manipulate for money, and the film's central question is whether money really is all that matters. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoCharacters smoke and drink. |
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