Hard Luck Love Song

Pool hustler Jesse (Michael Dorman) moves into a low-rent motel in a rough neighborhood. It's a dangerous living. He spots an escort ad in the papers and recognizes something. It's Carla (Sophia Bush) from his past.

It's a grim life. Dorman could be more downtrodden. He smiles a little too much. I do like the first act with its atmospheric danger. The movie takes a slight tonal turn with the introduction of Carla. It may work better if she joins the film sooner and she could go with him on his pool games. Then there is the cop. I can understand the attempt at a different kind of cop character. He's just in the wrong movie. He's slapstick comedy when the movie is a grim dive into the underworld. On the positive side, he's only in two small sections and one can ignore him. All in all, this is a nice vision of a grim life.