Poolhall Junkies (2002)
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Reviews Counted: 44
Fresh: 15 | Rotten: 29
No consensus yet.
Average Rating: 4.1/10
Critic Reviews: 12
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 10
No consensus yet.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 19,970
My Rating
Movie Info
A small-time pool shark with dreams of the big time seeks revenge against the mentor who did him wrong in this drama. Johnny Doyle (Mars Callahan) was a teenaged orphan when Joe (Chazz Palminteri) took him under his wing and taught him everything there is to know about shooting pool. Johnny became a genius with a cue, but while he dreamed of becoming a respected professional billiards player, Joe preferred to keep him working along the lower rungs of pool hustling. When Johnny learns just how
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Cast
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Chazz Palminteri
Joe -
Rick Schroder
Brad -
Rod Steiger
Nick -
Michael Rosenbaum
Danny Doyle -
Mars Callahan
Johnny Doyle -
Alison Eastwood
Tara -
Christopher Walken
Mike
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All Critics (48) | Top Critics (14) | Fresh (16) | Rotten (29) | DVD (13)
This brash little indie is oddly endearing and fun to be around.
Top CriticWhatever you want to say about this Mars Callaghan -- who is an avid cue-man in real life -- he would seem to be able to sink anything. Darned if he doesn't make this whole movie disappear.
As a director, Callahan wants the verve that Martin Scorsese brought to The Color of Money, but his visual approach is careless, relying too much on clichéd slo-mo and hasty edits.
[A]ll of it just seems so familiar and so trite, we know exactly where this is going.
90 minutes of slow-leaking, macho stomach gas, in which everyone talks like they were on brawny pills and every tawdry song on the soundtrack makes you feel as if you were trapped in a lap dance club.
This film coulda been a contender if Callahan hadn't worn so many hats -- but it has moments that make it worth waiting for on video.
The fast-paced picture sizzles with energy, and it's a tour de force for Mars Callahan, who co-wrote and directed.
A lowlife billiards drama that lacks the drive and edginess of the classic The Hustler, Poolhall Junkies does get by on its humor, energy and earnest charm.
With a better lead and more inspired direction, Poolhall Junkies might have been decent entertainment. But Callahan the actor is the biggest liability in Callahan the director's film.
If you saw this film, then you were hustled.
A low-profile DVD edition for sure, but you're probably just buying this disc for yet another Christopher Walken scenery-chewing smackdown, aren't you?
When Christopher Walken saunters into Poolhall Junkies, he kicks it from so-so to worthwhile.
Though there's not much in Poolhall Junkies we haven't seen many times before, the film manages to remain mostly entertaining due mostly to some surprisingly effective performances and a brisk pace.
It's disreputable, occasionally ludicrous and merely kinda fun.
About as disposable as a B-movie can get.
The snappy dialogue and cool characters provide enough pure entertainment to make this is a fun flick.
I haven't enjoyed a cheesy, over-acted B-movie as much since Eddie And The Cruisers.
The result is by no means the embarrassment that many such offerings from unjustifiably vain actor-auteurs have been, but nor does it present much of anything new or compelling to demand one's attention.
Audience Reviews for Poolhall Junkies
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- Mike: You had Phil shaking like a dog shitting peach seeds.
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- Johnny Doyle: Bet twenty thousand! Oh, did I stutter? Everybody gone all quiet and shit? About a minute ago it was like an evening at the Apollo up in this motherfucker, now all of a sudden it's quiet as a church.
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- Johnny Doyle: No. See, I just paid five-thousand dollars for your shot. Now it's my shot.
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- Johnny Doyle: But Merv, I didn't say I would tell you where you'd bought 'em, I said I'd tell you where you got 'em, and right now you got your shoes on your feet.
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- Joe: You beat them, you take their money, you call them names to their faces... and they love you. I don't know how you do it. I never saw anything like it. Beating a man out of his money, that's easy. Anybody can do that. But beating a man out of his money and making him like it... that's an art. That's an art of a true hustler.
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- Mike: Now... don't beat him. Kick his ass!
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"Sometime You Get A Second Shot... Make It."
Poolhall Junkies seems like a movie that has elements of Edward Burns, Quentin Tarantino, and The Hustler. In the end, it doesn't work. It doesn't work because Mars Callahan's script and direction is off; not to mention how bad his acting is. The dialogue is spit out at a fast pace, maybe to make us not realize how stupid a lot of it is. Here's another director who saw how Tarantino liked to write quick, snappy dialogue, and thought he could get in on it too. Problem is, his dialogue isn't smart like Tarantino. It's just bullshit. The movie is saved by Chazz Palminteri and especially Christopher Walken, though.
Johnny is a pool shark who has been under the guidance of a shady mentor, Joe. Johnny never wanted to be a hustler, he wanted to be a pro. When Joe didn't allow that, and Johnny finds out; he gets out. Joe retaliates by getting Johnny's brother involved. This makes Johnny come back to the world of the pool shark for one last big game against Joe and his player, and a rich backer, Mike, shows up to help Johnny with the finances.
Poolhall Junkies is nothing special, but it isn't all that bad either. There's a certain amount of fun that comes from the film, but in the end, it is brought down by its own stupidity. There's not a whole lot of good movies made about pool, but the masterpiece film, The Hustler, keeps making people think that there's a lot of potential in the pool hall setting. There is, but you have to know how to use it. Callahan didn't quite know exactly how to use it and it shows.