The Color of Money

The Color of Money is a 1986 film about an up-and-coming pool player who goes on the road with a veteran pool hustler.
 * Directed by Martin Scorsese. Written by Richard Price, based on the the novel by Walter Tevis.

The hustler isn't what he used to be, but he has the next best thing: a kid who is.

Fast Eddie Felson

 * This ain't pool. This is for bangers. Straight pool is pool. This is like hand-ball, or cribbage, or something. Straight pool, you gotta be a real surgeon to get 'em, you know? It's all finesse. Now, every thing is nine-ball, 'cause it's fast, good for T.V., good for a lot of break shots... Oh, well. What the hell. Checkers sells more than chess.
 * Vincent, get in the car, this is embarrassing. You're acting like some girl who got felt up at the drive-in.
 * I can always go back to whiskey; it's been very good to me. I mean, you're sitting in it, and I'm wearing it.
 * Pool excellence is not about excellent pool.
 * [to Carmen about Vincent] We got a racehorse here, a thoroughbred. You make him feel good, I teach him how to run!
 * Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.
 * [To Carmen] I'm not your daddy, I'm not your boyfriend, so don't be playing games with me. I'm your partner.
 * [To Vincent] You gotta have two things to win. You gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. Now, you got too much of one and not enough of the other.

Vincent Lauria

 * I think maybe the money's what's throwing you off here today.
 * [To Grady Seasons] Hey, Grady, up your ass with the spot. Is that okay with you?

Carmen

 * [To Vincent] You win one more game, you're gonna be humping your fist for a long time. Got that, Vincent?

Grady Seasons

 * [To Vincent] It's like a nightmare, isn't it? It just keeps getting worse and worse.

Other

 * Narrator: Nine-ball is rotation pool, the balls are pocketed in numbered order. The only ball that means anything, that wins it, is the 9. Now, the player can shoot eight trick shots in a row, blow the 9, and lose. On the other hand, the player can get the 9 in on the break, if the balls spread right, and win. Which is to say, that luck plays a part in nine-ball. But for some players, luck itself is an art.
 * Orvis: You know who you got stakehorsin' here for you? This here's Fast Eddie Felson. Who the hell are you? The end of the world?

Dialogue

 * Eddie Felson: You're some piece of work... You're also a natural character.
 * Vincent Lauria: [to Carmen] You see? I been tellin' her that. I got natural character.
 * Eddie Felson: That's not what I said, kid. I said you are a natural character; you're an incredible flake.
 * [Vincent's smile fades]
 * Eddie Felson: But that's a gift. Some guys spend half their lives trying to invent something like that. You walk into a pool room with that go-go-go, the guys'll be killing each other, trying to get to you. You got that... But I'll tell you something, kiddo. You couldn't find Big Time if you had a road map.


 * Eddie Felson: How much did you take off Moselle? I heard a hundred...
 * Vincent Lauria: One fifty!
 * Eddie Felson: [sarcastically] A hundred and fifty?
 * Vincent Lauria: That's right, a hundred and fifty.
 * Vincent Lauria: You walk into a shoe store with a hundred and fifty bucks, you come out with one shoe! We were working on five thousand!


 * Vincent Lauria: [Eddie is pushing to go on the road] This is my job, Eddie.
 * Eddie Felson: You think so? Hmmm. That's funny. I don't think so. I think it's your problem.


 * Eddie Felson: [walking into a crowded pool hall] Do you smell that?
 * Vincent Lauria: What, smoke?
 * Carmen: No, Money...


 * Carmen: You really think Vincent's that good?
 * Eddie Felson: Well, he's got the eye, he's got the stroke, he's got the flake... he's got the flake down cold. But can he flake on and flake off? I don't know. That's not clear.


 * Vincent Lauria: [about to play pool] Hey Eddie, what are you going to do when I kick your ass?
 * Eddie Felson: Pick myself up and let you kick me again.
 * Vincent Lauria: Oh yeah?
 * Eddie Felson: Yeah. [pause] Just don't put the money in the bank, kid. Because if I don't whip you now, I'm gonna whip you next month in Dallas.
 * Carmen: You mean Houston - there's nothing coming up in Dallas.
 * Eddie Felson: Houston, Dallas... And if not then, then the month after that, in New Orleans.
 * Vincent Lauria: Oh yeah? What makes you so sure?
 * Eddie Felson: [stares at Vincent for a second, then gets ready to break] Hey - I'm back.

Cast

 * Paul Newman - "Fast" Eddie Felson
 * Tom Cruise - Vincent Lauria
 * Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio - Carmen
 * Helen Shaver - Janelle
 * John Turturro - Julian
 * Bill Cobbs - Orvis
 * Robert Agins - Earl at Chalkie's
 * Alvin Anastasia - Kennedy
 * Elizabeth Bracco - Diane at Bar
 * Keith McCready - Grady Seasons
 * Grady Mathews - Dud
 * Steve Mizerak - Duke, Eddie's First Opponent
 * Iggy Pop - Skinny Player on Road
 * Forest Whitaker - Amos