Paul Newman, Tom Cruise and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio in the Martin Scorsese movie ‘The Color of Money’

With a sequel to the Robert Rossen directed The Hustler (1961) on tap some 25-years later, we look to Paul Newman reprising his role as “Fast” Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese directed movie The Color of Money (1986). With the original movie’s review here, we return to the notions of ambition and cockiness meeting the sporting world of billiards, with Tom Cruise starring as the up-and-coming pool player Vincent Lauria.

(John Turturro as Julian in the Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money).

With the sequel based on the 1984 Walter Tevis book The Color of Money, the movie’s screenplay includes writing credits for Richard Price. The opening reintroduces Felson as a successful liquor salesman based in Chicago, Illinois. We witness Felson partner with a hustler named Julian, as portrayed by John Turturro. It’s when the charismatic Vincent Lauria with his sharp yet inexperienced at hustling pool players girlfriend, Carmen as portrayed by Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, get the better of Julian that “Fast” Eddie changes plans.

(From left, Tom Cruise as Vincent Lauria and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio as Carmen in the Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money).

The plan calls for Felson to pitch Vincent, who had been working retail, to spend 6-weeks hustling their way through pool halls to a nine-ball tournament in Atlantic City, New Jersey. To sweeten the deal through manipulating Vincent’s feelings for Carmen, Eddie gives Vincent a high value Balabushka pool cue for saying yes. The acceptance and subsequent disappearance by ‘Fast’ Eddie for this bothers Julian as well as Felson’s girlfriend. Helen Shaver portrayed Felson’s girlfriend, Janelle.

(From left, Helen Shaver as Janelle and Paul Newman as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money).

The 6-week tour is fraught with the drama of Felson aiming to teach Lauria the art of hustling while Lauria bristles at the notion of playing below his ability to scam wealthy marks. As Felson, Lauria and Carmen are following Felson’s pool hall knowledge, vision, fronting, and experiences harkening back to the prequel movie The Hustler, the monetary gains and losses have been largely flowing going to Felson. The drama increases again when playing famed player Grady Seasons before Atlantic City raises questions of ego around this round of play as well as the play. Keith McCready portrayed Grady Seasons.

(From left, Forest Whitaker as Amos and Paul Newman as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money).

Taking inspiration from the experience between Vincent and Seasons, Felson starts playing again. Humiliated after getting taken by Amos, as portrayed by Forest Whitaker, Felson leaves enough money with Vincent and Carmen for the pair to make it to Atlantic City on their own. Felson takes his own path to New Jersey. Drama for Felson comes to a head between Felson and Lauria, Felson and Julian, and, finally, Felson and Janelle. Perhaps the biggest thing to come to a head is Felson relationship for the lifestyle and game of billiards, as confirmed by the film’s conclusion.

(From left, Tom Cruise as Vincent Lauria and Paul Newman as ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson in the Martin Scorsese movie The Color of Money).

The means of a broken belief system restored, some 25-years later for ‘Fast’ Eddie Felson, was the message I felt mostly strongly in the pairing of movies that are The Hustler and The Color of Money. Having that context made for a better experience to the sequel than I would have had for the second movie as a stand alone experience. Being unwilling to separate the two, I grant The Color of Money as directed by Martin Scorsese 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Sean Penn, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Judge Reinhold in the Amy Heckerling movie ‘Fast Times at Ridgmont High’

With school back in session across much of North America by now, let’s look at a favorite of Daycare Friend, a fan and friend of the blog. The Amy Heckerling feature-length directorial debut Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) featured Cameron Crowe as movie screenwriter and author of the 1981 book Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

(From left, Amanda Wyss as Lisa and Judge Reinhold as Brad Hamilton in the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Ridgemont High School is a fictional high school based in San Fernando Valley in the County of Los Angeles, California. We are introduced to senior Brad Hamilton with his plans for the school year. Portrayed by Judge Reinhold, we learn that Hamilton hopes to pay off his used car based on work at All-American Burger on his way to breaking up with Lisa, his girlfriend as portrayed by Amanda Wyss. Things don’t exactly go as planned, with the paths the stories of these two taking a point of the movie.

(From left, Phoebe Cates as Linda Barrett and Jennifer Jason Leigh as Stacy Hamilton in the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

While we are learning about Brad and Lisa, we meet Brad’s freshman sister Stacy, a 15-year-old virgin. Stacy Hamilton’s older friend, Linda Barrett, works alongside Stacy at a pizza restaurant in Ridgemont Mall. Based on exaggeration of her own intimate exploits, Linda leads Stacy into an intimate relationship with a stereo salesman named Ron Johnson. Johnson is more than a decade older than Stacy, with this plot point setting up much of the movie’s storylines that follow. Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates and D.W. Brown portray Stacy Hamilton, Linda Barrett and Ron Johnson, respectively.

(From left, Brian Backer as Mark ‘Rat’ Ratner and Robert Romanus as Mike Damone in the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

We then meet smooth-talking Mike Damone and his shy yet friendly pal Mark ‘Rat’ Ratner, as portrayed by Robert Romanus and Brian Backer, respectively. Ratner works in the mall across the walkway as a ticket taker in the movie theater, while Damone proves more at ease with communicating with others. Their relationships to the two ladies, along with Brad Hamilton’s fate later in the movie, also become points to engage with through the course of Fast Times at Ridgemont High. That the emotional costs of intimacy are raised in the mixture of contexts are, ultimately, addressed in a compelling manner for the target audience of this movie.

(From left, Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli and Ray Walston as Mr. Hand in the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Sean Penn as Jeff Spicoli provides a particularly enthusiastic example of comic relief for what proves to be a fair mixture of cinematic comedy and drama. Spicoli is an epically carefree surfer that runs afoul of history teacher Mr. Hand, with Mr. Hand being portrayed by Ray Walston. Beyond reinforcing the notion that events are happening at school, Spicoli’s interactions with Charles Jefferson’s little brother while damaging Charles’ car, along with the aftermath for the Lincoln High School football team, is humorous. Forest Whitaker and Stanley Davis Jr. portrayed Charles Jefferson and his brother, respectively.

(From left, Scott Thomson as Arnold and Forest Whitaker as Charles Jefferson in the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

The primary relationship questions for the movie are addressed by the movie’s end. Some measure of humor is offered in small biographies given to a handful of main characters at the end of the movie. That Brooke Shields, Ozzy Osbourne and Van Halen are invoked only adds to the relevance of the movie to its place in time.

(Director Amy Heckerling and actor Sean Penn on site of the Amy Heckerling movie Fast Times at Ridgemont High).

Overall, I found Fast Times at Ridgemont High to be entertaining and on point with the message and sensibilities for the time it was made. The coming-of-age viewpoints for multiple personality types were less stereotypical than I’ve seen in movies from this era, which added to my enjoyment. I give Fast Times at Ridgemont High as directed by Amy Heckerling 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Wednesday, August 31, 2022

Robin Williams, Forest Whitaker, Tom. T. Tran and the Barry Levinson movie ‘Good Morning, Vietnam’

Adrian Cronauer of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania served in real life as United States Air Force Sergeant and disc jockey on American Forces Network during the Vietnam War. Cronauer became the inspiration for the Mitch Markowitz written United States war comedy directed by Barry Levinson titled Good Morning, Vietnam (1987).

(From left, Forest Whitaker as Private Edward Garlick and Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer in the Barry Levinson movie Good Morning, Vietnam).

Serving in what was Saigon at the time, the movie Good Morning, Vietnam introduced Private Edward Garlick picking up Adrian Cronauer at the airport to the radio station where Cronauer would become a disc jockey. Forest Whitaker and Robin Williams portray Garlick and Cronauer, respectively. We find quickly that Cronauer‘s style of offering irreverent humor and playing rock and roll music is neither appreciated nor received well by his superior officers, namely Lieutenant Steven Hauk and Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson. Bruno Kirby and J.T. Walsh portray Hauk and Dickerson, respectively.

(From left, Tom. T. Tran as Phan Duc To, aka Tuan, and Chintara Sukapatana as Trinh in the Barry Levinson movie Good Morning, Vietnam).

As this storyline begins, Cronauer follows a local girl, Trinh, to a class where he aims to teach the local Vietnamese population English. Trinh’s brother, Tuan, intervenes in the shenanigans from the class that Cronauer insinuates himself into, in as much as Tuan wants Cronauer to discontinue having an interest in his, Tuan’s, sister. The friendship that follows for Tuan and Cronauer leads them to Jimmy Wah’s GI bar, and racial tensions ensue. Chintara Sukapatana, Tom. T. Tran, and Cu Ba Nguyen portray Trinh, Tuan and Jimmy Wah, respectively.

(Behind Glass from left, Dan Stanton as Censor #1 and Don Stanton as Censor #2. Standing from left, Bruno Kirby as Lieutenant Steven Hauk, Richard Portnow as Dan ‘The Man’ Levitan, Floyd Vivino as Eddie Kirk, Robert Wuhl as Marty Lee Dreiwitz and Forest Whitaker as Private Edward Garlick. Sitting is Robin Williams as Adrian Cronauer. All were in the Barry Levinson movie Good Morning, Vietnam).

The incident at Jimmy Wah’s GI bar boils up into further tensions for Cronauer with Dickerson and Hauk, with the result being a humorous and dramatic set of escalating discipline. Humor and drama would follow, with emotional connections, personality conflicts and a deep sense of conscience that provoked dramatic interplay. Avoiding the details for the sake of those yet to watch the movie, my testimony confirms that the interplay alone is compelling with the humor alongside also working.

(From left, Noble Willingham as General Taylor and J.T. Walsh as Sergeant Major Phillip Dickerson in the Barry Levinson movie Good Morning, Vietnam).

The central personality throughout the movie is, as you might expect, Adrian Cronauer. The man’s humanity is without question strong. The interactions including General Taylor, as portrayed by Noble Willingham, help offer some sense of perspective and adulthood throughout the larger story. The role serves a crucial role in bringing the movie to its resolution.

(Wearing Air Force fatigues was actor Robin Williams. Wearing sunglasses was director Barry Levinson. Both were onsite for the Barry Levinson movie Good Morning, Vietnam).

The humanity and insanity of being at war, with a friendly dose of what humor can be when looking at conflict from a perspective of everyday life, makes the movie effective for a wide audience. The story still holds up for me to this day, which helps me give Good Morning, Vietnam as directed by Barry Levinson 4.25-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.

Matt – Saturday, May 28, 2022

Richard Dreyfuss and the film ‘Mr. Holland’s Opus’

Family friendly films of an after school special quality have their place on the big screen. The film Mr. Holland’s Opus (1995) landed in my film queue over the weekend with positive results for my own personal brand of uplifting in the face of drama.

(Glenne Headly as Iris Holland, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The film Mr. Holland’s Opus begins with the notion of the Iris and Glenn Holland changing their perspective of married life after having tried to make a go of the husband’s music and composition career. Richard Dreyfuss played the title role of Glenn while Glenne Headly played the role of Iris.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Olympia Dukakis as Principal Helen Jacobs in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

At the beginning of the movie, Glenn and Iris plan to be affixed to the newly minted John F. Kennedy High School in Portland, Oregon for a not too long period. The couple questions the wisdom of the decision, made initially for financial stability, when Glenn runs into initial resistance from Principal Helen Jacobs (played by Olympia Dukakis) and vice principal Gene Wolters (played by William H. Macy), who resent Holland while questioning the value and importance of music education given the school’s strained budget.

(Jay Thomas as Bill Meister, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

Along comes an epiphany for Mr. Holland, after some well-placed pressure by Jacobs and an insight on how to reach the students. Football coach Bill Meister, played by Jay Thomas, joins with Principal Jacobs in cutting Glenn Holland slack in reaching students in the appreciation of music by incorporating fun into the curriculum. In the mid 1960s, that translated to reaching students through Rock & Roll, Rhythm and Blues, and whatever else will get students to appreciate music. Vice Principal Wolters was less impressed.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Terrence Howard as Louis Russ in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

Somewhere about this time, student Louis Russ (played by Terrence Howard) needed a hand getting academic credit in order to wrestle during the winter sports season. Holland agreed to help Russ in exchange for help from Meister with getting the marching band that Holland agreed to take over in marching order. This led to a positive impact for Russ, Holland and Meister while revealing that the relatively new addition to the Holland family, Cole Holland, was severely hard of hearing.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Joseph Anderson as Cole Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

As a fresh storyline emerges from the irony of an avid lover of music having overcome the means of reaching his students through music now having the difficulty of reaching his own son. Iris struggles with reaching Cole, too. The financial stress of getting Cole the help he needs to learn tugs upon the couple, in addition to the title character’s desire to compose. Meanwhile, Glenn helps student Gertrude Lang (played by Alicia Witt) connect emotionally with music in a way that adds appreciation and joy for music in a way it hadn’t until the two unlocked that reason why.

(Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland, left, and Alicia Witt as Gertrude Lang in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The pull of composition, the pull of students, and the effort to keep music in John F. Kennedy High School begins to cause tension at home for the Holland family. Glenn and Iris feel the death of John Lennon keenly, which becomes an emotional rupture between Glenn and Cole for the two have struggled to connect on the level of the passion Glenn feels for something Cole cannot appreciate in the manner many do. An artful solution presents itself, as does what looks like a potentially inappropriate relationship between teacher (Glenn Holland) and student Rowena Morgan. Jean Louisa Kelly played Rowena Morgan. This test gets graded through the course of the movie, as ultimately does the career of Glenn Holland, the perspective of recognition through music composition, and the investment made in relationships and family.

(Jean Louisa Kelly as Rowena Morgan, left, and Richard Dreyfuss as Glenn Holland in Mr. Holland’s Opus).

The film Mr. Holland’s Opus repeatedly asked what the value of music education is within the school curriculum. The further question is what does it mean to be a fully formed human being, which we see in the characters of Glenn Holland, Iris Holland, Cole Holland, Gertrude Lang, Louis Russ, Stadler (as played by Balthazar Getty), Rowena Morgan, and even John F. Kennedy High School staff members Bill Meister, Principal Helen Jacobs and vice principal Gene Wolters. The message of Mr. Holland’s Opus becomes the value of that investing fully in people. That music, teaching and family are celebrated, too, has its clear merit. I rate Mr. Holland’s Opus at 3.75-stars on a scale of one-to-five.

Matt – Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Film review for a winner of four Academy Awards, ‘Platoon’

Director Oliver Stone and Producer Arnold Kopelson first released Platoon (1986) on a limited basis in movie theater’s in December 1986. The movie was nominated for eight Academy Awards, winning for Best Picture, Film Editing, Sound, and Direction. To underscore that this movie was well received by the academy would be a disservice to the film.

(Oliver Stone in cameo in Platoon)

While arguably first a movie with an ensemble cast set in the Vietnam War circa 1967, the story of the movie is a tale of idealism and innocence lost in the jungle of Vietnam as seen through the eyes of Chris Taylor (as played by Charlie Sheen) and others. The character of Chris Taylor volunteers for service after dropping out from college with little worldly experience, which in my opinion serves as a metaphor for much of how the United States viewed itself at the time.

(Charlie Sheen)

While the enemy that the United States was fighting in Vietnam was the communist ideal and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, the argument offered in the movie was that there was an internal struggle within America for the fight. The movie wasn’t aiming to argue those politics, though the internal American struggle was viewed through the lens of youthful innocence and some degree of rich versus poor.

(Willem Dafoe, left, and Tom Berenger, right)

Sargent Barnes as played by Tom Berenger serves as the jaded by war experience and morally corrupted platoon leader. Barnes has a quite unsympathetic and unfeeling attitude toward the Vietnam natives in country, and takes ruthless and criminal actions against the people of a farming village that the platoon in the movie comes upon. Sheen’s Taylor finds sympathy with the platoon faction lining up behind the more sympathetic Sargent Elias, who is played by Willem Dafoe.

The characters of Elias and Taylor take illicit drugs during the course of the movie. Barnes does not take that step, receives praise for his toughness within members of the platoon, and is shown for moments of leadership fallibility and moral turpitude, especially amongst the Vietnamese farming villagers as well as in the fate of Sargent Elias.

(Forest Whitaker)

In underscoring some of the military policy of integrating the military that was part of the legacy of the Vietnam War, the notion of the larger ensemble cast also sharing in the taking of sides between Sargent’s Barnes and Elias was clear. Big Harold, as played by Forest Whitaker, gave voice to the same inner turmoil that Chris Taylor (Sheen) was experiencing. This was communicated most strongly, perhaps, after the Vietnamese village was raised and farmers were killed.

(Keith David)

In the role as King, Keith David was a voice of moralizing that helped the character of Chris Taylor come to his own sense of moral clarity within the film. David’s initial role was in taking stock of the character that Taylor was as well as helping guide the change that Taylor would experience by the end of the movie. The character of Rhah, as played by Francesco Quinn, was another strong voice for the audience and Taylor in speaking for the directorial messages of immediacy and vision that I heard in the film.

(Francesco Quinn)

There is no question that Platoon lands firmly in the camp of war movie. The scenes of war action were real and intense for their day, though later surpassed by some of the film quality of a picture like Saving Private Ryan. Similar in ensemble quality to Saving Private Ryan, I would be remiss if I were to not point out that Johnny Depp also served as Private Gator Lerner in Platoon.

(Johnny Depp)

Part of the larger power of the movie that worked so well as a war movie is that the experience offered was that of the platoon level combatant. The notion of Taylor losing the ability to write home, and his platoon mates asking him about it were quite real. The notion of staying morally forthright while facing many opportunities to lose innocence and idealism were also fair, gritty, and in ways unpleasantly real. The depictions of combat, of corrupted leadership and the counterpoint rectitude, and the coping with having thoughts on each while feeling powerless to affect the course were strong and cogent messages.

With all these things said, the reason that I watched Platoon without Lynn reflect the same reason that I watched Dunkirk, reviewed here, without Lynn. The violence and sensibility of war that were parts of Platoon and Dunkirk were not things that Lynn would enjoy. Quite easily put, there was nothing to be gained by subjecting her to an experience that she would not enjoy.

Platoon, still, was worthy of Academy Award attention.

Matt – Sunday, March 18, 2018