Un afortunado soñador

By day, Darren Barrenman (Chris Pine) is a pool man. With his circle of friends, he is constantly presenting miniscule issues to the city council and filming his never-finished documentary. He is the thorn in the side of council president Stephen Toronkowski (Stephen Tobolowsky). Out of the blue, the mysterious June (DeWanda Wise) recruits him to take down Toronkowski for unknown corruption. Susan Kerkovich (Jennifer Jason Leigh) is his girlfriend. Jack Denisoff (Danny DeVito) is his documentary director. Diane Esplinade (Annette Bening) is his therapist. Wayne (John Ortiz) is his minion.

The story may be riffing off of Chinatown, but the movie is very much looking to imitate The Big Lebowski. Chris Pine is writing and directing. As the lead actor, he is very much doing the Dude. I like his attempt. He's not holding back. He has surrounded himself with plenty of great actors. The problem boils down to the script and filmmaking. In those respects, Pine is no Coen brothers. It's not there in the details and I want changes to the last act.

I understand why people are panning this film. It's extremely off the beaten path. Hollywood does replication and repetitiveness very well. There are so few new ideas. That's why we see endless remakes of comic films and outer space franchises. How man Bond films are there? By the way, this is nothing new. The earliest films in America were inspired, in part or in whole, by other, earlier works.

As film viewers, we've become accustomed to this paradigm. So much so, as evidenced in other user reviews, when we don't get it, we get upset. "Poolman" is an odd film. I don't think anyone would dispute that. But it's odd on purpose. Pine was clearly sending up old tropes, like the ones the Sam Spade films, and "Chinatown". This film is not typical Hollywood fodder. I enjoyed the breath of fresh air and a tongue firmly planted in cheek. :-D.

I think Chris Pine's intention was to create an homage to LA noir movies of yesteryear peppered with a bit of crime, a bit of mystery and a bit of dark comedy. Trouble is I don't think any of it landed.

The movie looks good. It's well shot and has the visual feel I imagine was intended.

The plot, rather than being intriguing and complex is an absolute mess, the comedy doesn't land and Pine's attempts to create a deep and tragic lead just result in an annoying, waffling buffoon.

The cast is pretty underused in my opinion. Annette Benning, Danny DeVito and Jennifer Jason-Leigh should be offering plenty of clout but really are bit parts.

Not for me I'm afraid.

Desperately screaming 'I love and understand Los Angeles', dire stylized dramedy "Poolman" tries laying a veneer of "The Big Lebowski" (without its natural charm) over a twisty plot based on "Chinatown" (that it homages). Titular pool-cleaner Chris Pine (a retro hippie with OCD - sigh) is on a social activism drive (supported by Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh, DeWanda Wise & John Ortiz) against city councillor Stephen Tobolowsky... which pulls him into that shady convoluted plot which also involves the likes of Clancy Brown & Ray Wise. Pine's a fine actor, but his debut as director / co-writer (with fellow debutant Ian Gotler) sucks. Drain it away.

Poolman is a convoluted mess. I really like Chris Pine as an actor, he's had some films and delivered decent performances. However, he should stick to acting and not direct. I could not make any sense of what unfolded in this film. It was trying to go for a Big Lebowski sort of vibe but it was terribly done. The humour is just not there. The plot is quite over the top and unrealistic. It has such bad writing and really bizarre scenes featuring a lizard, weird friendships that make no sense, a really poor sense of story and flow that leaves the viewer beyond confused.

How did this get the green light?