Carpool

"Carpool" wasn't all that bad. I think Tom Arnold can be very funny at times and he came through here. The stars of this movie however were the children. They provide most of the laughs. Maybe my one quarrel with the film was Paymer's character's constant whining about being late for his meeting. The movie is nothing special, but its also not terrible. "Carpool" is harmless family fun.

I liked this movie when it came out, but I was a pre-teen. Now, it's fair. No classic and no extreme adventure; and definitely very unrealistic with kid jokes to make matters worse. However, it does have it's exciting parts that keep you on the edge of your seat. A few times it really does get you going. I wouldn't recommend see it without kids around, and would only see it if there really is nothing better to see. However, it is better than a lot of family movies, and is worth a try if you're willing to lower your standards.

All the more, and on the plus side; it really has a good plot and good moments. If you really give it a fair chance and "read between the lines," there are hidden messages about team work and self-development. The man on the run has a good heart, but is facing lots of problems. People (even the kids and witnesses) like Arnold's character better than the Dad. The Dad, selfish in the beginning, really learns a lot about putting others before himself - while making a new friend and bettering himself. The kids, who argue in the beginning, also form a bond, and have some good learning moments. They all work together as a team, and it leads to a surprise ending.

No classic, and probably only a 5/10, with just a C grade; but that's better than rock-bottom, and is an all-around adequate movie worth one watch if there truly is nothing better on TV or anything better to do.

Now you may not be aware of the term carpool ... or maybe you are. But just in case, it means that one car is being used to transport many individuals. In this case it is a carpool to school. So you get kids from different families being driven to school by one dad. So you know the other parents have not to worry how their kids will get to school.

This is quite the silly comedy and the actors are a testament to that. Tom Arnolds character might as well be called Tom Arnold - he seems to be playing his thing. And either you like it or you are annoyed by it. I wouldn't be calling it acting necessarily. And he doesn't have to - this not shading him. It works perfectly for the movie I would say.

So sit back, relax and let the madness take place ... predictable but still fun for all/many of the families

As a kid, I had no knowledge of Cinema. I only relied on Cartoons and Comedies like 'Carpool'. I remember enjoying myself while watching 'Carpool' back in the late 1990's. Now when I saw it on TV after all these-years, When I itself started to watch films like 'Ben Hur', 'Casablanca' etc, I consider this 1996 flick to be a weak effort.

'Carpool' is not a terrible film, but it's not good either. However, Kids of my age back then, enjoyed themselves. In terms of 'Screenplay' & 'Direction', this flick offers nothing magnificent and I can confirm you that the Makers didn't intend to make a 'milestone' film anyway. Their intension was to make Kids laugh, and of what I remember, the kids did.

Arthur Hiller's direction as well as the screenplay offer nothing great. For some reason, Tom Arnold won a Razzie-Award for Worst Actor for his performance in here, while David Paymer delivered a truly good performance. David Paymer is amongst "the" most under-rated actors of his time. The kids did a fine job.

On the whole, A film that never will be talked about, and I guess it never even wanted to be Evergreen.

CARPOOL was produced by Warner Bros , a film studio with a long history of movie making . You'd think the studio heads would know what makes a successful entertaining film so couldn't have come up with something better than this ?

What's that old saying " Never work with children or animals " ? The studio broke one of the rules by employing children as main protagonists and while we don't have much in the way of animals we see another golden rule broken , the one that states " Never work with a duff script " . A man drives his children to school only to get kidnapped by a desperate robber . You probably think you've seen this premise a million times before but it's not really a plot that's been filmed all that many times , probably because it's so weak and obvious which leads me to be confused as to how it survived its pitch . I guess the studio must have been really short of good ideas that month . The already weak plot is brought done even more by the way the actors mug for the camera and the really weak situations: " You put the gun down - No you put the gun down " which means it's not really worth your time seeing