Adam Stanton (Shepperd Strudwick) - a close childhood friend of Jack""s.At one of many fancy social occasions, a formal dinner, discussion flares over the direction of Jack""s troubled career choice and conflicting political viewpoints regarding Willie Stark""s populist message.The opportunistic, elderly owner-merchant of the local bar/cafe, Kathie""s Uncle Frank Bleeker (Ray Teal) is pleased with the gang""s arrival and instructs his elderly dishwasher/bartender helper Jimmy (William Vedder):Jimmy, put a couple more cases on ice, will ya?The bar owner encourages their beer-drinking and invites them into the bar and restaurant: "Plenty more where this came from.They quickly part when he leaves for his train.[The speck of dust is symbolic of the romance being planted in her heart.]That""s how it all began, just through me getting a little piece of grit in my eye.I completely forgot the whole incident.It didn""t mean anything to me at all.At least I didn""t hink it did.In their second chance meeting, they enjoy a brief, casual but pleasant conversation on the street during another of her weekly trips - trips where she appears to be searching for something hat her dull husband and routinized life cannot offer:The next Thursday, I went into Milford again as usual.Whispering into his ear, she asserted that his search was similar o her earlier quest for "an answer":"I know why you""re here, Neo.After the credits play, the scene is set in the stylized interior of the second-story Ames Billiard Hall as it is being opened for business in New York City [the renowned Ames Billiard Academy on 44th St.