# "The Hustler," great movie. Should I bother with TCoM?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [July 10, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839 "2005-07-10T11:24:03Z")
**Posts on this page:** 11
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/1 "2005-07-10T11:24:03Z")
I’ve watched _The Hustler_ several times over the last couple of months. Outstanding movie. Outstanding.
25 years later, the sequel _The Color of Money_ is released. Had no interest in it at the time but now that I’ve loved _The Hustler_ so much I have to wonder whether I should watch it. On the one hand, Paul Newman did win an Oscar for the role (although it seems to be the conventional wisdom that the award was given more as an unofficial lifetime achievement award than for the performance itself) and I am interested in finding out what happened to the character of Eddie Felson. On the other hand, it has Tom Cruise in it, at the very pinnacle of his “cocky young guy” routine and I’m not sure I could bear it.
So those who’ve seen it (bearing in mind that there should be no spoilers posted to this thread), is it worth it?
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### Author:  [@rorty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rorty)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/2 "2005-07-10T11:38:34Z")
I really liked _The Hustler_, but found _The Color of Money_ to be a major let down. They do not even compare, really.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/3 "2005-07-10T11:38:58Z")
I read the book by Walter Tevis (a great writer) and Tom Cruise plays the part of Vincent pretty close to perfectly. You will find that the fact that you dislike Cruise going in will not effect your enjoyment of the movie. Newman is bloody good and read everything Tevis wrote.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/4 "2005-07-10T11:40:43Z")
I did mean to add that it is nonetheless nowhere near as good as _The Hustler_ but worth catching.
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### Author:  [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/5 "2005-07-10T11:47:47Z")
> [@rorty](#):
>
> I really liked _The Hustler_, but found _The Color of Money_ to be a major let down. They do not even compare, really.
My sentiments exactly. Try _The Cincinnati Kid_ for comparison, since McQueen had this rivalry thing going with Newman ever since the days of _Somebody Up There Likes Me_. He finally got his reward with _The Towering Inferno_ but until then he was always a step or two behind Newman. Too bad he didn’t live long enough to get into salsa and salad dressing. Imagine such a thing!
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### Author:  [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/6 "2005-07-10T14:41:56Z")
It’s worth watching for the pool and the soundtrack, if nothing else. (I loved it.)
Since you’re already interested in Felson’s character, I think you’d enjoy the movie. You definitely won’t be bored, IMHO.
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### Author:  [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/7 "2005-07-10T15:23:07Z")
Great soundtrack, great pool, and it’s worth seeing. Plus, you want to see what happens to Fast Eddie as he ages, don’t you?
The movie isn’t anywhere near the quality of _The Hustler_, which is one of the great movies, but it’s entertaining, especially if you’ve seen _The Hustler_.
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### Author:  [@fubbleskag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fubbleskag)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/8 "2005-07-10T15:53:35Z")
i think you’ll find that TCoM doesn’t stand up to TH - but i also believe that’s because of the order you watch them in. i know several people who watched TCoM first and didn’t enjoy TH as much (impossible to not enjoy either of these movies at a base level).
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### Author:  [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/9 "2005-07-10T17:18:49Z")
> [@Otto](#):
>
> On the one hand, Paul Newman did win an Oscar for the role (although it seems to be the conventional wisdom that the award was given more as an unofficial lifetime achievement award than for the performance itself)
Actually, Newman won the Official Lifetime Achievement Oscar the year before, though I agree: I think they wanted to give him a competitive Oscar (even if it meant cheating the far superior Bob Hoskins, James Woods, or unnominated Jeff Goldblum).
_CoM_ is worth checking out, still, because Scorsese on an off-day is still worthy, because it is Newman’s last “cool” role, because Cruise is quite good (as he usuallly is as a largely unsympathetic prick), and because Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was quite the firecracker at the time.
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### Author:  [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/10 "2005-07-10T17:37:26Z")
CoM, while not quite as good, is still well worth seeing.
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### Author:  [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)
#### Post date: [July 10, 2005, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-hustler-great-movie-should-i-bother-with-tcom/311839/11 "2005-07-10T18:33:22Z")
I might be letting my opinion of Tom Cruise’s subterranean standards of acting get in the way of an impartial review - but as someone else said, watching ths was a _ **big** _ letdown. C’est très letdown grand !!!