Eli learns that his absent father was a Detroit pool hall legend. He journeys into the scene and must confront the realities and danger of the game – and himself.
Generally speaking, if one is to make a film set in the world of pocket billiards (more commonly and less formally known as “pool,” of course), the key is to bring the sport to life in some way that captures the sly grace of what amounts to a battle of wits. Those who love playing, either casually (in the case of this writer) or professionally, understand that, despite the intimate nature of the sport, there is something inherently cinematic in it. The loud crack of the opening break, the back-and-forth tension between the competitors when there’s a tough angle to pocket a cue ball, the satisfaction of the occasional accidental or trick shot – it’s great fun, even to watch from the sidelines. It’s also a game steeped not in freneticism but in patience, observation, and a basic understanding of geometry. With “Break,” co-writer/director Will Wernick shows that he gets this, above most other concerns in his film.
Those other concerns can’t entirely be discounted, obviously. The general trajectory of the film’s plot, which follows a young man on something of a journey to discover what has happened to his soul, is both familiar and predictable. It all leads to a showdown between the younger billiards prodigy and one of the old guard, whose motivations might be neither pure nor good. Along the way, the hero meets a love interest who might be absolutely perfect for him if not for the calculated soap opera of their lives. Thankfully, of course, the rules of successful filmmaking are not quite so clear-cut that perceived predictability or familiarity is the end-all and/or be-all consideration. When this movie works, it does so because of the disarming attention paid to its characters, their history, and, most importantly, their flaws.
We have certain expectations, for instance, when we meet Eli (Darren Weiss), the pool prodigy in question, whose first real bit of derring-do involving the billiards table is to defend the honor of that eventual love interest. We learn bits of Eli’s personal and family history throughout this story, written with emotional clarity by Dikega Hadnot, Spencer Mandel, and Wernick. Eli doesn’t drink anymore on account of some unspoken tragedy that left a scar on the forehead of his younger sister. His father died a decade ago, and now his mother, Leslie (Wendy Braun), wanders aimlessly through that absence, dating men of whom her children disapprove and working all hours of the day and night otherwise.
It turns out Eli’s dad was a legend in the local pool halls. While forcing a frat-boy idiot to eat crow and apologize by way of losing a game of eight-ball, he meets Millie (Braedyn Bruner), whose father also happens to be Eli’s boss. The game attracts the notice of Draper (Victor Rasuk), who scouts Eli for the opportunity to play at the same level and in the same circles as his dear old dad. The conflict is twofold: he must impress Hattie (Patricia Belcher), the proprietor of the place, enough to allow him a competitive space, and he must confront Jimmy (Jeff Kober), something of a demon from his dad’s reckless past, in a fateful game of nine-ball.
Yes, the conflict leads to that showdown, which is as familiar as it gets (especially when one character pulls out a gun and another one is assaulted to heighten the drama), but the movie is about more than competition. It’s also about exploring these characters in their natural habitat. The performances, especially Weiss and Bruner and their shared chemistry, are solid, and the filmmaking in “Break” finds a way to capture the skill and the tension involved in shooting pool. That outweighs any lingering doubts about familiarity.
Available on Streaming/VOD and on Amazon June 11th
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