Obsessed by the world of pool, Johnny (Callahan) could be one of the best. But his mentor and "trainer" Joe (Palminteri), a shady hustler who decides how and who Johnny plays, is holding him back from his dream. When the day finally comes, Johnny breaks from Joe, which leads to only one thing -- violence. Joe is beaten up by some of Johnny's buddies as a sign to leave him alone, and with this final act of freedom, Johnny leaves the world of pool-sharking.
After an ultimatum from his girlfriend Tara (Eastwood), Johnny finally commits to a "real" job in the construction business, but is soon miserable there. He finds himself spending most of his time with his younger brother Danny (
Michael Rosenbaum) who it seems is following in his footsteps on the road to a life Johnny left when he broke from Joe. As for Joe, he is bent on revenge for the beating he took, and soon he has a new protégé Brad (Schroder) who is just as good if not better than Johnny. And he's got his eye on Johnny's brother. The two play a high-stakes game of pool which ends in a huge debt owed to Joe and soon Johnny finds that his brother is in jail for trying to steal the money he owes. The only way out for Johnny is to play Brad, which results in a "race to nine" showdown that pits two of the greatest players against each other for large sums of money, and Johnny and Danny's lives.
I thought the movie was fantastic. I`m an avid pool player myself and found most of the movie very well done, the attitude, the lighting, the players were all great in the movie. The character Johnny Doyle was very well done. I hope for a sequal of some kind or another pool based movie by Mars Callahan.
This movie is pretty jive. An ex-boyfriend introduced me to this movie a while back, he`s a pretty good pool player, guess that`s why he likes this movie so much. I rented it the other day cause I liked it too, I think I`ll buy it...plus Chazz Palminteri and Christopher Walkin are 2 of my favorite actors...but of course Mars Callahan does it...(SEXY)