Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Beautiful, moving film.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

If you are a pool aficionado you will LOVE it! If you are a Movie Critic you will be on the fence. The film has the potential to be a really good movie, it just needs a do over. The story is there, but it has a lot of weak spots, primarily in some situations and the dialog. Rick Schroeder does a nice job, but, does the 13th ranked pool player in the country really get hooked up with the likes of Joe for nickel and dime cash? The story indicates that Johnny quit pool for "a long time". The movie does not let that come across. It feels more like a few weeks. Johnny comes home from playing the pro, missed his girls birthday but she has sex with him and proceeds to be angry in the morning. Does a drug dealer with tons of back up really head out to his car with a brief case filled with money, alone? Does Johnny really need Nick to tell him how to play a shot "It's a 2 Rail Safety, Your right, thanks Nick" Really? Watch the movie and judge for yourself. if you love pool, you will like the movie.

This is simply a great, well done and entertaining movie...period dot. The flick itself centers around pool, but there's so much more to it. W/an all star cast who all play their parts to perfection, but seemingly without effort, it just doesn't get any better. Add Christopher Walken to it, and you have a sure all time fav! I'm not going to write anything about the plot or events, but rest assured the movie flows well, is witty, clever and real...it doesn't try to be anything it isn't and is everything it is. BTW, one thing it isn't is that absurd joke of a pool movie...The Color of Money. Poohall Junkies blows this movie away...and just laughs at it effortlessly.If you like the cast, pool, Christopher Walken and a well made, solid pool movie by Mars Callahan who is also superb in this movie, watch this. Then watch it again. Wait...and watch it again.This is one of my all time favorite flicks...probably watched it 25 times or so, and it just gets better and better every time. Check it out!!!

I went ahead and did the spoiler alert anyway just to be safe, even though I plan to speak generally about the world of pool and what a HORRIBLE job this movie did in portraying it.At the time this movie came out in 2003, steady business within pool halls that catered only to pool players was (and still is) all but extinct. The movie The Hustler came out in the sixties, and all of the sudden everyone went out and bought a pool cue and starting frequenting pool halls because that movie had made it seem just so awesome. Just as that was dying down about twenty years later, the sequel (The Color of Money) came out and gave the pool industry the kick in the pants it needed again. Fast forward another 20 years, with pool's popularity on the wane, and this movie is released, the only problem is that it, yeah, it's not very good. Let me make one thing perfectly clear: REAL POOL PLAYERS DO NOT PLAY 8 BALL, EVER! If you decide you want to play the game and you get to the point where you can beat everyone at the local pub in a game of 8 Ball, you've still got a long way to go if you want a respectable reputation amongst those who play 9 Ball, Straight Pool, 1 Pocket, and various forms of Bank. 8 Ball is what the kids down at the Y are playing, and it is so popular because it gives an advantage to the less skilled player. Say you make 4 of your balls and your opponent hasn't made 1 yet, you're doing good, right? Wrong. You now have less to shoot at and your opponent's balls are likely getting in your way. You'd think not making a shot would be a disadvantage to him, but it ends up being some sort of Bizarro World defense. So the fact that this movie depicts what are supposed to be gods of the game going head to head in some epic game of 8 Ball is utterably laughable, but not the kind of laugh they were likely going for.Let me make another thing perfectly clear: A REAL HUSTLER WOULD NEVER WEAR A SHIRT THAT READS "HUSTLER" SO THE WHOLE WORLD KNOWS IT! It is a common notion that a pool hustler just keeps slaughtering his opponents and they are dumb enough to keep agreeing to play for more money. A real hustler must play down his game at all times, all the while never letting his opponent know how good he is. He must make his opponent feel like he legitimately had a shot at winning, that way he will keep playing. If the hustler and his opponent are playing a race to 5 series, his opponent will likely win 4 of those games, not because of his own skill, but because of the hustler's skill at throwing games while looking like he was trying to win. Hustlers don't frequent the "pool halls" that have a huge full service bar that attracts hot twenty something women on Friday nights. Hustlers are in dark and seedy pool rooms on a Tuesday night playing people of their own caliber and often begging the owners to stay open another hour.If some dude in a faux hawk and his Hustler tee shirt challenges you to a game of 8 Ball, have no fear, he's a sap.But while he is a sap in the real world of pool, he is the hero of this bastardization of not only the pool industry but also cinema as a whole. This movie could have not only illustrated what's going on these days in pool halls, but it could have also given this generation a genuine interest in the game, had it been done right. In the Hustler, they played straight pool, which was relevant and reflective to the time the movie was released. In The Color of Money, the played 9 Ball, a game whose accelerated pace was also reflective of the time the film was released. I guess, in a way, Poolhall Junkies reflected its period, but not for pool players, but rather for non pool players who think they are pool players. They throw around cliché terminology (that no one uses anymore) and introduce a few lame hustles and tricks to look out for that could ONLY go over on a non pool playing audience.I'm sorry to say, and I never thought I would have to, but not even Christopher Walken could save this bad boy.

The film Poolhall Junkies centers on pool shark Johnny (Mars Callahan), who breaks free from Joe (Chazz Palminteri), his mentor and one of the dirtiest hustlers around. He makes the break upon finding out that Joe hid his being invited to shoot with the pros from him, and from here things become violent and Joe breaks Johnny's hand. Joe uses pool shark Brad (Rick Schroder) to bring Johnny's younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum) into the picture, as he hustles Danny and proceeds to beat him up and to threaten his life for the money he owes him. In the chaos, Danny tries to knock off a pawnshop and is arrested and imprisoned. It is then up to Johnny to play Brad for the cash to get his brother out of jail.Director Mars Callahan successfully made this a film about achieving greatness. Throughout the film, we know Johnny has possibly missed his chance to be great. A chance many get once in a lifetime. But throughout the film, we see that Johnny is a great person, sticks to his morals (although they are a bit hazy), is a true friend, and always has some goodness at heart. At one point, Johnny swears off of the game, but returns when the stakes involve getting his girlfriend Tara (Alison Eastwood) her dream job in the law firm she happens to be interning at. In doing this, he meets and befriends her Uncle Mike (Christopher Walken), who backs him and gives him the money he needs to possibly win his final game.The pivotal choice in music for this film is very original. It went very well with the key moments it was placed in. At one point in the final pool game, the two competitors pass by one another, and right at that point there is a howl in the music that has been playing throughout the game. This makes the meeting that much more exciting. This film was excellently pieced together, and probably both under credited and under viewed.