Leaky Faucets

Inspired by attending my first ever 9-ball tournament last weekend, I decided to rent “The Color of Money” from Net Flix.  We watched it last night.  Twenty years after this movie was made, it seems a bit dated, particularly Tom Cruise’s character.  His character, which was the height of cool in 1986, is laughable now, especially when viewed through the current prism of his off-screen behavior.  He played the same cocky hotshot role in other movies at the time such as “Top Gun” and “All the Right Moves.”  Every girl in my 7th grade class was madly in love with Cruise.  Looking back now even they would probably laugh at him.  Paul Newman, acts circles around Cruise in “The Color of Money.”  His character is still fresh today, a testament to his strength as a performer.  Keith McCready, mentioned in my previous post, “The Earthquake,” has a cameo role in the movie as the pool champion Grady Seasons.  He was a brash young pool player at the time and probably portrayed himself as Grady.  Aya pointed out that he didn’t age quite as well as Mr. Cruise.  Years of drug and alcohol abuse will do that to you.  One final note: despite her huge 80s hair in this film, I was reminded of why I thought Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio was so hot back then.