Billiard Movies

There’s not a ton of billiard movies out there – but here a few to get you started. There are a few more and I hope that I can add to this list…

Hustle: to lure less skillful players into competing against oneself at
(a gambling game)

1. Movie: The Hustler, 1961
Paul Newman was only a promising and somewhat successful actor until performing the part of the brash, lonely, love-and-reputation seeking poolshark, "Fast" Eddie Felson. This single role turned Newman's career and made him an overnight superstar.

Billiard Quotes in Movie:

“I’m shootin’ pool, Fats. When I miss, you can shoot.”
“Do you like to gamble Eddie? Gamble money on a pool game?”

2. Movie: A Game of Pool, 1961
A young pool player finds himself playing against a long-dead master pool shark. The stakes: his life.

Billiard Quotes in Movie:

“I’m only a pool player, but I’m the best.”
“You WERE the best.”

3. Movie: The Baron and The Kid, 1984
A Pool Shark, Johnny Cash, meets his son for the first time
at a charity tournament. when they discover they are father and son, after recognizing a gold ring the father was wearing, they decide to join together Financially and Professionally, and open a pool room together.

4. Movie: Kiss Shot, 1992
Out of cash, out of a job, and soon-to-be out on the street, single mother Sarah Collins suddenly finds herself returning to the pool rooms of her youth to pay a massive home mortgage bill. But just as she plays her way into a big-money tournament that could solve all her problems, a globe-trotting, pool playing ladies’ man threatens to disrupt her safe, secure life with her daughter – as well as her own fragile peace of mind.

5. Movie: The Color of Money, 1986
Pool hustler Fast Eddie Felson (Paul Newman) finds the young,
promising pool player Vincent (Tom Cruise) in a local bar and he sees in him a younger version of himself. After hearing Vincent break open those 9 ball racks like thunder Fast Eddie was hooked again.

Billiard Quotes in Movie:

“You couldn’t find big time if you had a road map.”
“You gotta have two things to win. You gotta have brains and you gotta have balls. And you got too much of one and not enough of the other.”
“Money won is twice as sweet as money earned.”

6. Movie: Poolhall Junkies, 2002
Obsessed by the world of pool, Johnny (Mars Callahan) could be one of the best. But his mentor and "trainer" Joe (Chazz 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.

Billiard Quotes in Movie:

“You beat them, you take their money, you call them names to their faces... and they love you. I don't know how you do it. I never saw anything like it. Beating a man out of his money, that's easy. Anybody can do that. But beating a man out of his money and making him like it... that's an art. That's an art of a true hustler.”

7. Movie: Behind the Nine, 2004
It's the final weekend of an underground nine-ball tournament, with the winner taking home $500,000 cash. The losers take home nothing but a handshake and a pat on the back. Eight players remain, and these players and their hangers-on meet at the proprietor's house to play out the remainder of the tournament.

Billiard Quotes in Movie:

“Most people get one, maybe two weeks of vacation, and work the other fifty. They got it backwards.”