The bonds between fathers and sons are the focus of Walkaway Joe. Dallas McCarthy (Julian Feder) is a 14-year-old heading down a bad path. Unforutnately, his father Cal (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) is far from a good role model and Dallas idolizes him. Cal is a swindler, going from pool hall to pool hall trying to hustle people out of money. He gets in with a bad crowd and his debts keep racking up. Even worse, Cal loops Dallas into his hustles. Dallas has an innocent demeanor, and this demeanor combined with his age causes other players to underestimate his pool skills.
Cal’s wife Gina (Julie Ann Emery) has had enough. She is sick of Cal not ever acting like Dallas’s father, always just his friend with her always being the bad guy. The troubles for Dallas continue as he starts getting into fights at school and disrespecting his mother. Cal finally reaches his breaking point and walks out on the family via a shitty little handwritten note.
Walkaway Joe has a talented cast – most notably Morgan and Strathairn – but they never reach their full potential. Michael Milillo’s script and Tom Wright’s directing bog down these talents and don’t provide them the ability to shine. We do not get nearly enough character development to truly care about what his happening to anyone on screen. There are a couple heartfelt moments, but few and far between. On top of that, these moments feel forced and awkward. Even when Joe tries to impart wisdom on Dallas, there is no weight to the words, and they ring hollow.