Poolhall Junkies

Poolhall Junkies

Year: 2002

Starring: Mars Callahan, Christopher Walken, Chazz Palminteri

Directed By: Mars Callahan

Rating: R

Run Time: 99 Minutes

     A friend of mine asked me to review this over a year ago.  After my delay in posting, which I can give you a ton of reasons and excuses why I haven't, I am going to get back in the game.  Even though my followers are few, that doesn't mean I can't take the 15-20 minutes to write a review for a movie, given I watch probably close to 500 in a single year.  So Ken, here you go man, the review you have been waiting for!

     I am just going to come right out and say that I really enjoyed this movie.  It was a different twist on a sports/gangster movie about pool.  I really like the fact when someone takes bowling, pool, or cards and puts it into a serious drama, it makes the sport more attractive to people who generally think it is a bar game.  If you don't want to at least try and play some pool after watching this movie, I would be shocked.

     The movie opens on a teenage kid, Johnny who can roll at pool.  He is talking about being a pro and going far, but Chazz's character, Joe, a protective father figure who is out for his own gain, doesn't want to lose this kid because he sees the money this kid could make hustling pool and throws away Johnny's invitation to play professionally.  Flash forward to a pool hall full of players (hence the name Poolhall Junkies), where the now grown up Johnny is playing for money, and is clearly better than anyone he plays.  At the end of this scene, he find out what Joe did, and leaves him high and dry in a bad situation. This movie continues from here about how Johnny gives up pool, gets back on it, gives it up again, and has to play at the end to get his brother out of trouble.  I, again, don't want to give it all away, but the introduction scene is enough to keep you interested in what will happen in the movie.  There are a lot of supporting talent as well from Michael Rosenbaum (most notably Lex Luther from Smallville), Christopher Walken, and even an Eastwood (Clint's daughter Alison).  A movie is only as good as your supporting cast, and this one had a great one.

     However, there is a downside to this film.  This movie had a very similar plot, one that I had seen before, almost had the exact same plot twists, climaxes, etc.made only 4 years earlier.  Rounders (a movie about poker starring Matt Damon and Edward Norton) was so similar to this movie, you could almost call this movie Rounder 2: Poolhall Junkies.  It was so similar, I had to see if it was by the same director (it wasn't) so it was not original, and very, very predictable, with no real surprise.  Another thing I didn't like was the ending sequence which was corny, and I think it was probably one of the first things filmed because it didn't seem very fluid.  The pool game play was incredible though, but a little confusing, but they all can't be perfect right?

     Regardless, I still give this movie 3.5 out of 5 pool ques.  I will definitely watch it again, after I research some rules on how they are playing and some of the more technical stuff (because I'm a nerd) but still this movie is a great one to see and is going in my Top 10 Sports movies list.  Watch it, its a good one, you'll enjoy it.

TMBro