Green felt has always been good on camera. From smoky back rooms to neon nine-ball, here are the films that turned pool into cinema.
Robert Rossen's black-and-white classic. Paul Newman is “Fast” Eddie Felson, a young pool shark who challenges the legendary Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) and learns the difference between talent and character. The film that made straight pool cinema.
Martin Scorsese's sequel picks up an older Eddie Felson, now staking a cocky young talent (Tom Cruise) on the nine-ball road. Newman won the Best Actor Oscar for reprising the role 25 years later.
Mars Callahan writes, directs, and stars as a gifted hustler trying to walk away from the game for good. With Christopher Walken and Chazz Palminteri, it leans into the smoky, fast-talking world of back-room action.
A road-hustling comedy-drama with James Coburn as a seasoned player and Omar Sharif as the high-roller he’s angling to beat — a tour through the pool-hall circuit of its era.
Famke Janssen plays Kailey, a card- and pool-hustling loner scheming to win enough at the table to build a life with the son she barely gets to see. A quieter, character-driven take on the hustle.
A made-for-TV drama starring Whoopi Goldberg as a single mother who turns to pool hustling to save her home — a lighter entry that still keeps the cue at the center of the story.
Think we missed one? Pool's film history is deeper than one page — this is where we started.
Find a room, join a tournament, and write your own hustle story.