"Poolhall Junkies" is the cinematic equivalent of a train wreck. As much as you'd like to turn away from this complete and total misfire, you can't take your eyes off it.
You also can't help but feel embarrassed for everyone involved in this billiards-based dramatic thriller, especially the cast. It makes you wonder if some blackmail material was used to get people as talented as Chazz Palminteri, Christopher Walken and the late Rod Steiger (all former Oscar nominees or winners) to appear in it.
(Because the film was almost completely shot in Salt Lake City and surrounding areas, it's an embarrassment for Utah as well.)
Perhaps the film's only saving grace is that it's overwhelmingly hilarious in its ineptitude. While you'd like to think that's what they were aiming for, it's clear that wasn't the case.
The title could refer to several characters in the film, but more specifically to Johnny (director/co-writer/star Mars Callahan), a pool shark who's trying to go straight at the behest of his girlfriend, Tara (Alison Eastwood — Clint's
daughter).
But it's not easy. His younger brother, Danny (Michael Rosenbaum), keeps trying to drag him back in. And then there's Johnny's mentor, Joe (Palminteri), who's brought another pro (Rick Schroder) into town to show up his former protg.
And when Danny runs afoul of Joe, a showdown becomes inevitable. Fortunately, Johnny has at least one unexpected ally: Tara's uncle (Walken), who's got his own reasons for helping him.
The film's four-letter-word-peppered, tough-guy dialogue pegs it for what it is: another Quentin Tarantino wanna-be, albeit one that's nearly 10 years too late. (Comparing it favorably to the classic "The Hustler" or Martin Scorsese's "The Color of Money" is giving it credit it doesn't deserve.)
And as awful as Callahan's sneered delivery is, his performance is not the film's worst. Eastwood, who possesses almost none of her famous father's on-screen magnetism, takes the prize for that.
As for the supporting cast, Walken seems to be the only one who realizes how ridiculously bad this material is. So he gives a knowingly campy performance that belongs in a much better film than this one.
"Poolhall Junkies" is rated R for excessive use of strong, sexually related profanity, crude sexual slang and racial epithets, violence (beatings and some gunplay) and brief sexual contact. Running time: 94 minutes.
E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com