MovieChat Forums > The Color of Money (1986) Discussion > A problem i had with the Pool in the mov...

A problem i had with the Pool in the movie

posted 12 years ago by bigbro6060
15 replies | jump to latest

Great great movie, holds up today as well as it ever did.

Brilliant performances

As a pool player, i have just a small issue with the pool shots in the movie

They were playing 9ball and all shown shots were either trick shots which come up once in a blue moon in a 9ball game or very easy straight in shots

I would have liked to have seen some shots more typical of high level nine ball like a good 8ft pot with 3 rail position using right hand english.

Or a nice 4-5 ft draw shot

or a razor thin long cut shot

I was pretty impressed with Cruise and Newman's break technique, i know Sigel taught it to them and he did a good job

[–] quirt1 12 years ago

A long cut shot with the object ball shown just dribbling in would have been cool and added a nice authentic touch to the pool sequences.

And I wonder if Cruise can still do his famous "sledgehammer" break from the film.

[–] rscott24 11 years ago

You don't need a sledgehammer break in 9 ball. You just wanna hit the 1 ball square, keep the cue ball in the middle of the table, and make a ball. Also I've always read that Steve Mizerak said Cruise could have turned professional, and I don't believe that for a second. Maybe it's propaganda or something but if Cruise was that good they would have showed him doing position shots like the OP mentioned and spinning the ball all over the table. In one sequence of "stop shots" he actually drew the cue ball back a little too far and the scene cuts away and when it cuts back it's back to being a straight in stop shot.

[–] cyguration (3951) 4 years ago

Actually... I don't doubt that Cruise could have turned professional.

Have you seen the list of all the things this guy can do? It's unbelievable. From flying helicopters to flying planes to holding his breath for six minutes to playing the guitar... this guy seems to be a renaissance man of sorts.

If he dedicated time to it, I'm sure he could have actually been a pro pool player.

[–] Heisenberg (6730) 4 years ago

Who couldnt?

[–] cj3333 (1046) 4 years ago

Stephen Hawking

[–] FootOfDavros (8142) 4 years ago

I agree.

The shots shown were ridiculous at some points - there was one were the ball was canoned in off about four balls lined up in a semi circle in the middle of the table 😂. Who came up with that?

Plus the first miss from Vincent against Eddie was stupidly miles off. Eddie should really have walked off there and then as it was so obvious...

[–] SlackerInc (1101) 3 years ago

I was really wondering about that one and at least felt a little better when the twist came that he was dumping.

[–] stickman38 (3346) 3 years ago

Cruise is not a real player, they had to setup easy shots for him. And they used the more flashier shots in this movie to make it look spectacular. The best shot is the jump shot but it was performed by Mike Sigel, a real pool player and he was the technical advisor for this film.

As a player myself, I can tell Cruise can't play at all by the way he holds his cue. But it kinda looks like Newman could play a little bit by the way he lines up his shots.

However, I thought it was pretty cool how they used several real players in this movie. Grady Seasons is a guy by the name of Keith McCready, and he's a professional player. The guy with the beard is another pro named Howard Vickery. And of course, the guy that Eddie offers to buy a drink for is Grady Mathews, another real player. And perhaps the most well known of them all was Steve Mizerak. He was the guy Eddie said that he "deserved that" at the tournament. lol..

Overall, I thought the shots were okay. The only issue I have with this movie is that it's not very realistic, it doesn't capture the pool world that well. The Hustler, also staring Newman as Eddie Felson, is a better film.

[–] BicD (161) 2 years ago

You forgot a couple of players who were also in the film...
Jimmy Mataya
Ewa Laurance
Earl Strickland
Efren Reyes

When Eddie tells Vince in the tournament in Atlantic City that he drew some guy named kennedy, I would like to think they were talking about Tommy kennedy.

[–] stickman38 (3346) 2 years ago

What scene were they in? I don't recall seeing any of those players.

[–] BicD (161) 2 years ago

Earl and Efren was technically a joke but they did play in the Color of Money Pool Tournament in which Efren won.

I believe Ewa was one of the players in the Atlantic City Tournament. I know she was one of the technical advisors and thought she had a cameo.

Jimmy Mataya.....After Eddie refused to stake Julian, later in the film (possibly in the green room) Julian and Jimmy Mataya were together and I think Mataya spoke a line or 2

[–] stickman38 (3346) 2 years ago

I think I do vaguely remember that scene with Jimmy. Good call...

[–] TearofLys (2641) 2 years ago

Serious pool players are too small a market to cater to. Normies just wanted to see trick shots and loud thundering break shots, and that is what the movie provided.

[–] strntz (12225) 2 years ago

Yep. Every movie will annoy someone at some point who possesses an expertise - if not understanding - that most of the population doesn't.

Even Apollo 13 had a couple of cringe moments from a technical standpoint.

[–] rex (2828) 2 years ago

those shots amos made were Aces