White Wall Cinema: THE COLOR OF MONEY

If we were gamblers, our bet would be that this is the year Tom Cruise wins his first competitive Oscar. But why has it taken so long? It can’t be understated just how deep and broad Cruise’s prowess as a movie star is, nor the exceptional quality of the creatives he has worked with. For our Tom Cruise season, we take a look at three different maverick directors’ treatments of Maverick himself.

The first film in the season comes from master director Martin Scorsese (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas, The Wolf of Wall Street, Killers of the Flower Moon). Considered by many to be one of the most underrated films in the great man’s filmography, The Color of Money is a revisiting of a character that Hollywood great Paul Newman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting, Cool Hand Luke, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) played 25 years earlier in his career in the 1961 classic The Hustler.

Not a direct sequel, (and you don’t need to have seen The Hustler), the film brings back “Fast Eddie” Felson, now a jaded pool pro who has sworn off the game entirely. Eddie stumbles upon a young, highly talented but extremely cocky pool player, Vincent (played by an electric Tom Cruise), and his partner, played by the excellent Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (The Abyss), who was nominated for an Oscar here. Eddie takes the pair under his wing to teach them the tricks of the hustling trade, but the uneasy trio soon starts to show cracks at the seams.

• DOORS: 7.30pm*
• START TIME: 8pm*
• RUN TIME: 119 mins
• CERT: 15 (Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult)

*Please note – doors open at 7.30pm, Please try to allow extra time to get seated prior to the performance start time of 8.00pm. There will usually be no admittance from 20 minutes after the films stated start time. No hot food or alcohol from outside the premises is allowed. All alcoholic drinks consumed on the premises must be purchased from the bar as per the conditions of the venue’s licence