Poolhall Junkies
Poolhall Junkies | |
---|---|
Directed by | Mars Callahan |
Written by |
|
Produced by |
|
Starring |
|
Cinematography | Robert Morris |
Edited by | James Tooley |
Music by |
|
Production company | |
Distributed by | Samuel Goldwyn Films |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 94 minutes |
Language | English |
Budget | $4 million |
Box office | $563,711[1] |
Poolhall Junkies is a 2002
The film also features
Plot
Most of the film takes place in a
After an ultimatum from his girlfriend Tara (Alison Eastwood), Johnny largely leaves the world of pool hustling, and finally commits to a "real" job in the construction business, but is soon miserable there. He finds himself spending most of his time with his younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum), a musician with aspirations of following in Johnny's hustler footsteps, despite Johnny's discouragement of this path. Johnny meets Tara's wealthy uncle, Mike (Christopher Walken); he and Johnny hustle some of Mike's business associates, one an executive at Tara's employer. Rather than bet money or on himself, Johnny wagers a high-placed position for Tara, with Mike putting up an expensive car as their side of the stake. Johnny wins a challenging trick-shot bet (to duplicate a difficult shot Mike had made in the previous game), and the promotion for Tara, but keeps the reason for her new opportunity a secret. (She eventually figures out the reason behind her advancement to such a competitive position, but understands that Johnny was just trying to help her the only way he knew how.)
As for Joe, he is bent on revenge for the beating he took, and soon he has a new protégé, Brad (Rick Schroder), who is just as good as, if not better, than Johnny. Joe also has his eye on Johnny's brother as a
The match comes down to a very difficult final shot for Brad. Johnny sharks Brad while he is calculating how to take the shot, telling him how easy the shot is and how Johnny would even pay to take that shot for him. Smelling an opportunity to get more money from Johnny, Joe agrees and makes Brad let Johnny attempt the shot. Johnny does so, but does not pocket the final ball. As Brad prepares to take the winning shot, Johnny stops him: since he paid for the privilege of taking Brad's turn for him, it is now Johnny's own turn again. Before Brad or Joe can react, Johnny easily pockets the last ball and wins the match, having exploited the hustling techniques he learned from Joe to do so. Joe is prepared to resort to violence again, but Johnny predicted this and has the same friends who roughed up Joe before drag him away. Brad stays out of it, and on his way out of the pool hall suggests Johnny should get onto the pro tour. In the closing shot, Johnny is shown happily playing a pro-tour match. (The resolution of Danny's legal trouble is left as a loose end.)
Cast
- Mars Callahan as Johnny Doyle
- Chazz Palminteri as Joe
- Rod Steiger as Nick
- Michael Rosenbaum as Danny Doyle
- Rick Schroderas Brad
- Alison Eastwood as Tara
- Christopher Walken as Uncle Mike
- Mike Massey as St. Louis Louie
- Richard Portnow as Toupee Jay
- Chris Corso as Houseman
- Robert LeBlanc as a tournament pro
- Charlie Terrell as the guitar player in Danny's band
- Ernie Reyes, Jr.as Tang
- Glenn Plummer as Chico
- Anson Mount as Chris
- Phillip Glasser as Max
Production
There were no camera tricks or special film editing used for any of the billiards shots in the film, although many of the special trick shots were performed by professional player Robert "Cotton" Leblanc. Mike Massey, another world-renowned trick shot performer, has a cameo appearance as "St. Louis" Louie in the film as well. Christopher Walken made the difficult trick shot to win a game against Tara's boss on the first take. He was supposed to make a "trial run" for the scene, but he asked that the cameras go ahead and roll, in case he happened to make it on his first try, and he did.[citation needed]
In real life Mars Callahan is an accomplished pool player who met co-writer Chris Corso in a pool hall where each was trying to hustle the other. After a bitterly contested game (neither will tell who actually won) the two became good friends. Swapping war stories about their mutual experiences playing pool, the two decided to write a script based on their experiences and observations. Two weeks later the script was completed, but it would take another ten years to get it to the big screen.[citation needed]
Filmed in Salt Lake City, Utah, the film includes several references to the Salt Lake Valley and prominently places the Salt Lake Temple in the background of a scene.[4]
Reception
Poolhall Junkies received mostly negative reviews from critics: the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes sampled 43 reviews, and gave the film a 33% positive rating.[5]
References
- ^ Poolhall Junkies at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Scott, A. O. (February 28, 2003). "Poolhall Junkies (2002) Film Review: Men Navigating Subplots While Shooting Pool". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 8, 2013. Retrieved February 12, 2017.
- The Los Angeles Times. Archivedfrom the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved January 16, 2013.
- ^ "Film review: Poolhall Junkies". Deseret News. 2003-02-28. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2020-12-26.
- ^ "Poolhall Junkies". Rotten Tomatoes. Archived from the original on October 13, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2022.