Poolboy: Drowning Out the Fury

I'm not sure what got me to give "Poolboy" a chance. Maybe it was because I had a free rental, or that it had the great Danny Trejo in it. Deep down, I suspected it might be a lazy effort, but I was wrong. Although the movie is very low budget, the effort by the cast and crew is VERY enthusiastic. Gags are executed one after the other at such a rapid pace that at times it makes the legendary Zucker/Abrahams/Zucker comedy look like slowpokes. And while the movie had a poverty row budget, it actually manages to take advantage of it to execute some pretty funny gags.

The movie definitely has some funny moments. However, there are plenty of gags that also fall flat. Many of the gags are the kind you would associate with teenage boys who get their hands on a camcorder and try to make a comedy. While that kind of thing can be funny in small doses, they stretch it out for ninety minutes, which is long past the breaking point. Also, while the movie is refreshingly politically incorrect, there are enough slams against Mexicans that might make some viewers uncomfortable.

Still, the movie has its moments. And I can say with confidence that I think there are a lot of people out there who would find this movie funnier than I did. In fact, I would not be surprised if in several years the movie manages to build a substantial cult following.

Poolboy 2 is a sarcastic mockumentary, in the style of Garth Merenghi's Darkplace (cue blood).

The premise is this: a rich, eccentric heir of ten years old gets to write, direct and produce his own movie.

The end result is a hodge-podge affair, littered with obvious gaffes: support crew visible in shots, smoking uncut cigars, camera crew visible in reflections, telephones still ringing after they've been picked up. The whole movie is a joke, which is precisely as it was meant to be (clueless reviewers take note).

While not as smart as Darkplace, it is certainly as silly. The random voice overs (the censors were adamant all references to witchcraft were removed) in particular were often hilarious.

For the people that still don't get it: this is a movie that was made to look bad. In fact it was made to look absolutely terrible _on purpose_. Please don't review this movie with silly comments like 'the acting was awful', of course the acting was awful, it was supposedly directed, written and produced by a 10 year old! This is all obvious to the majority of people with a sense of humour but I will state it here for the few that still don't understand: the terrible editing, the ridiculous plot, the never ending stream of racist vitriol: these were all deliberate.

TLDR; Ridiculous movie based on a ridiculous premise. Lovers of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace will see obvious similarities here and will most likely have a fun time. If you don't like or understand comedy or sarcasm then don't bother. If you are overly sensitive to racist comments, you will also want to give this a miss.

A parody, of a documentary, on a movie that due to the themes in the movie was cancelled 20 years ago. Starring Kevin Sorbo. Right at the get go I'm sold.

Mix in a bunch of action, cheesy effects and acted acting, drugs, dark themes and a kick ass weapon (a scoop net with a blade at the net and a knife at the end of the shaft) to name a few things and you get an in-your-face B-movie comedy.

How do you review a movie that constantly walks the lines of absolute balls to the wall comedy, constantly breaks the fourth wall and makes really bad puns? Well, like any other movie I would guess. But to be honest, this is one of the funniest movies that I've seen in recent times. It's just stupid enough, and has more than enough intelligence to realize that it's stupid to make it enjoyable. The setup is amazing, and the ridiculousness of the setup to the movie makes it perfect as a B-movie. It shouldn't be considered a B-movie just because it has a low budget, the majority of the movie is actually funnier than a hundred new A-movies that has a lot of money attached to it. The writing really puts it over the top, kudos to Ross Pattersson.

To be even more honest a review doesn't even give this movie the praise that it deserves. Even though this movie has bad ratings it deserves a whole lot more credit than people are giving it, or rather denying it. Just watch it, broaden your perspective, bro.

I watched this movie at a friend's tonight and I can unequivocally say that his is one of the most satirical movies...ever! It is smart (a number of self-referential levels, as well as allusions to other, commercially "good" (i.e. "popular") movies and TV shows: Rambo, Airwolf and the The Deer Hunter comes to mind. "American ideology" is deconstructed and re-imagined as (alter)native; the nativity of a clown.

But it's also so stupidly bad at the same time, you would sometimes forget you're watching a satire.

It's either brilliant or the worst movie ever.

I think it's both: watch it!!!

i laughed & laffed at this screwball comedy! how anyone can be offended by this nutty movie is beyond me.

right from the start you know this is a budget movie with actors doing their thing in front of the camera and doing it in a 'carefree' attitude. that's what makes this film so brilliant and just fun to watch. the actors are just doing what they choose without concern with 'acting'!!!

Saint James St. James (Saint James Street James) is the narrator that keeps the goofy stuff in motion and takes over the action in the end. the ricocheting bullet is worth the whole hour and a half of laffs.

rent it and get happy with laughter!