Martin Scorsese's The Color Money opened 40 years ago this October. I first saw it probably a year or two later on Showtime or HBO. Can't remember. I had just entered middle school, and this was 40 years ago, after all. It just so happens that this was the first film of Scorsese's that I ever saw. It has remained a sentimental favorite of mine through the years. By no means do I consider it one of his best. However, I do think the underestimation of the film in 1986 was born out of the white-hot glow created by the man that had (within the last 10 years) made Taxi Driver and Raging Bull . Two of the most prominent film critics of the era, Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, both gave the film a 'thumbs down' on their program. And, as I recall, Roger gave it only two and a half stars. Pauline Kael was slightly more favorable but ultimately said the film floundered in the third act.…