Off The Beaten Path

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DVD available at Amazon.com

Notable Cast Members: Mars Callahan, Chazz Palminteri, Michael Rosenbaum, Christopher Walken, Rick Schroder, Alison Eastwood, Anson Mount, Ernie Reyes Jr., and Rod Steiger

The Movie:

When walking the beaten path you can easily find diamonds in the rough. Movies like Poolhall Junkies. It may be rough around the edges, but it’s fun. Directed and co-written by Gregory “Mars” Callahan, he also plays the protagonist, Johnny Doyle. At a young age Johnny was homeless. His family had abandoned him and his brother. Then a guy named Joe (Chazz Palminteri) took Johnny under his wing, bought him some clothes, gave him a place to stay, and taught him a skill. The skill of playing pool like a hustler. He became so good that “the cue was part of his arm and the balls had eyes.” But Johnny never wanted to be a hustler; he wanted to be on the pro tour. When an invitation to join the U.S. Professional Poolplayers Association (UPA) comes in the mail, Joe throws it in the trash.

Fifteen years later, Johnny finds out UPA invitations had been sent but were destroyed. As a result, Johnny blows a hustle, and Joe takes the fall. This leads to payback and retribution in the form of Joe breaking Johnny’s wrist. To add insult to injury, Joe takes on a new pool playing protégé, Brad (Rick “Don’t call me Ricky” Schroder) the steely-eyed wunderkind. Like most pool movies, there’s a high-stakes winner-takes-all contest.

Johnny’s girlfriend Tara (Alison Eastwood – yes, that Eastwood), a law student, doesn’t approve of his pool hustling ways. In defense, he pleads it was never about the money. It was all about the thrill. For her, Johnny hangs up his cue and takes a job working construction – which lasts about a week. One evening he arrives late to party held at some rich lawyer’s estate. Not fitting in with the stuffy suits, Johnny excuses himself, and leaves Tara and the guests to get some fresh air on the balcony. There he meets her uncle Mike (Christopher Walken). Johnny notices the chalk and crease on Mike’s pants and figures it could have only come from the rail of a pool table. Fast friends they do become.

From the opening voice over to the music stylings of James Brown, Poolhall Junkies evokes a cool atmosphere. The smoke-filled halls, the sounds of a rack of balls being broke, falling into holes. The movie may climax with a pool game of epic proportions, but there are plenty of smaller hustles along the way. Some are barroom related (“I’ll bet I can drink both of these pints faster than you can drink both of those shots”). Another involves the oldest trick bet in the cheater’s handbook (“I’ll bet you I can tell you where you got your shoes”).

The cast is a good ensemble mix of well known, up-and-coming, and “where are they now?” actors. Mars Callahan resembles Ben Affleck look-wise. He’s not exceedingly smart, and he doesn’t have a Boston accent, but he can con with the best of them. Michael Rosenbaum (TV’s “Smallville”) plays Johnny’s younger pool-playing brother Danny. He hangs out with a group of friends that includes Anson Mount – valedictorian for the Enrique Iglesias School of look-alikes – and Ernie Reyes, Jr. You may remember Ernie as the pizza delivery guy from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze. Lastly, there is the legendary Rod Steiger in his final film role – playing the owner of the local pool hall.

The Story Behind It:

Poolhall Junkies is one of those movies that slip under a watcher’s radar. When it was released theatrically it did not have a big run at the box office. Heck, you could have sneezed and the movie would have been gone. The only way a person may have known this movie was released was by reading Roger Ebert’s three-star review from late February 2003. When it arrived on DVD a few months later, most bypassed it at their local video store.

Not me. I couldn’t wait for Blockbuster to make it one of their Favorites rentals. (And if truth be told, a new release must stay on the back wall for a year until it becomes favorites worthy. At least that was the rule-of-thumb when I last visited a Blockbuster – some two years ago.)

I took the disc home and watched it in my bedroom. Seeing Mars Callahan and Rick Schroder wage war on a pool table, I marked out for the little move Mars does at the very end. Once I finished the movie, I ejected the disc and headed for the living room. Not saying anything, I turned on the DVD player and got my parents to sit. I watched it again with the folks.

Now I rarely watch a rented movie more than once. There are a few exceptions, however (see Starship Troopers). I don’t know what it is. This movie isn’t great but it is entertaining. The plot is average, the dialogue is okay – the script needed work, but considering some of the crap that comes out of Hollywood these days, it’s a work of genius. Christopher Walken is even allowed to give one hell of an inspiring monologue. The speech is scene-stealing, and just the thing to pump Johnny up before his last match against Brad.

A few weeks after watching Poolhall Junkies I was perusing a Hastings store and saw a used copy – now it can be found for as low as $4.99. Well, of course, I just had to add it to my DVD library. There isn’t a month that goes by that I don’t watch this hidden gem.

Until next time, remember to grab your cues and rack your balls.

Travis Leamons is one of the Inside Pulse Originals and currently holds the position of Managing Editor at Inside Pulse Movies. He's told that the position is his until he's dead or if "The Boss" can find somebody better. I expect the best and I give the best. Here's the beer. Here's the entertainment. Now have fun. That's an order!