Rack 'Em Up, Or Get Racked Up, I Guess

I’d never heard of Poolhall Junkies, which at least meant I’d never heard anything bad about it. And I do like pool, even if I have no particular skill at it. All the best shots I’ve ever hit have been luck, or me just hitting the cue ball really hard.

You’ve got this kid Johnny (Mars Callahan, who also directs) who had a chance to join a professional circuit at 15, but a hustler, Joe (Chazz Palmiteri) had his hooks in him, and 15 years later, he’s just a hustler too, hating himself for it. He makes a break with Joe, but then he’s left wondering what to do now. He’s tries construction, and that doesn’t work. His girlfriend, Tara (Alison Eastwood) is trying to become a lawyer, and strongly disapproves of him playing pool. It raises the question of why she started dating him in the first place, considering he’s been a hustler for considerably longer than she’s known him, but the movie never really answers that. Maybe it was one of those “date the bad boy, and then fix him” things.

Whatever John’s opinion of himself, he’s looked up to by his younger brother Danny (Michael Rosenbaum) and his three friends. They’re all preparing to follow their dreams out into the world, whatever those might be, and then in steps John’s old handler, and he brought a pro (played by Rick Shroeder) with him to hustle the boys. Which leads to John’s brother making some rash, stupid decisions to try and fix things, and then John has to face the pro to try and win the money, and his self-respect.

Christopher Walken’s in there, kind of randomly, as Tara’s wealthy retired uncle who loves pool. He’s more of a plot device. When the story needs a cause for tension between Johnny and Tara, there's Uncle Mike. When Johnny needs someone with money to help him, there's Uncle Mike. I did like the one speech he made, during the big showdown, about how 80 grand might be big money to Joe, but he’s a millionaire. He loses 80 grand, he just pulls out another 80 grand. It was funny, because it was a perfectly true response to Joe and his “you never been in a place like this” bullcrap.

Also, Rod Steiger is in there, as the guy who runs the poolhall, and tries to keep Johnny from believing all the defeatist stuff Joe told him over the years. I didn't even realize that was Steiger until I looked the movie up on IMDB. Then again, the only image I really have of him is from Duck, You Sucker, and he doesn't look like that here.

There are a couple of weird subplots that crop up now and then. One about whether this waitress at a diner Danny and the boys go to a lot had a boob job. It comes up once I the film, as a point of debate between them, then it’s settled in a sequence that runs during the credits. I thought the answer was fairly self-evident, because I doubted a waitress at a crappy little diner in the South Side (of New York, I’m guessing) could afford cosmetic surgery. Perhaps I overestimate the cost. There’s also one about Chris, one of the friends, and his issues with women. As in, he’s extremely uncomfortable around them, leading to much speculation among the other three he’s gay. He talks about being with one girl, but getting spooked by all the stuffed animals on her bed. Then he starts making out with another girl, and she asks him to choke her, which to be fair, would spook me, too. You just met, that's a little much, I think. I just wasn’t quite sure what the film was driving at with that whole subplot. That Chris hasn’t figured out who he is yet, or none of these guys are comfortable with real intimacy because they have these stupid hang-ups? Or it was just supposed to be funny, full stop.