Chris Pine’s directorial debut, Poolman, is a lethal boring flop that’s simply the worst film taking part in at TIFF this yr.
PLOT: A spacey pool cleaner (Chris Pine) discovers a plot to steal water from Los Angeles throughout a drought.
REVIEW: Within the fourteen years I’ve been protecting TIFF, I’ve seen solely a handful of flicks that I’d say had been shockingly unhealthy. The Mickey Rourke/ Megan Fox/ Invoice Murray dud Ardour Play involves thoughts. Poolman ranks with the worst films I’ve ever reviewed at JoBlo. It’s a stunningly unfunny comedian noir self-importance challenge for star Chris Pine, who additionally directed and co-wrote the movie. That it was made in any respect is a testomony to the facility of celeb, because it has already grow to be infamous on the competition for the quantity of walkouts going down on the screenings.
So why is Poolman so terrible? It comes right down to the screenplay and Pine’s grating lead efficiency as a sort of “lovable” loser that’s clearly patterned on Jeff Bridges’s flip as The Dude in The Huge Lebowski. Alas, Pine isn’t both of the Coen Bros, with the character unbearable proper from the beginning, as he cranks out every day letters to Erin Brokovich (a truth the film thinks is hilarious) and hooks up together with his aloof girlfriend, performed by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who’s sleeping with everybody else round him. He lives in an outdated residence complicated owned by Jack (Danny DeVito) and Diane (Annette Bening), who might or is probably not his adopted mother and father; the film by no means fairly makes up its thoughts.
His character, Darren, is obsessive about public transit in Los Angeles and attends weekly metropolis council conferences the place he tortures his metropolis councilman nemesis (Stephen Tobolowsky) together with his “wacky” displays. He’s approached by a femme fatale (the attractive DeWanda Smart) with a scoop that one thing shady could also be occurring with the native water provide, and earlier than you already know it, he’s popping Chinatown into the VHS and occurring his personal L.A odyssey.
A film like this lives and dies by its central character, and Pine is rarely convincing as a down-and-out hippie Poolman. He’s attempting to stretch past his main man consolation degree, and whereas his roguish appeal was humorous in Dungeons & Dragons, he’s not capable of make Darren something greater than a joke, and a nasty one at that. His makes an attempt at Coen Bros-type absurdist humour fall lethal flat, with two henchmen inexplicably dressed like Crocket and Tubbs in Miami Vice and Tobolowski’s Rabbi doing drag reveals as one of many Golden Women. You by no means spend money on the thriller as a result of Pine is nothing lower than grating within the lead function.
What’s particularly grating about Poolman is how self-satisfied it’s. Pine had constructed your entire film round himself, with not one of the supporting solid ever actually getting an opportunity to shine. None of them, not even the at all times dependable DeVito and Bening, make an impression, with solely Smart by some means strolling away trying good as she fits the femme fatale function. Technically, the movie is impeccable, with Pine taking pictures the film on 35mm together with his Marvel Lady DP Matthew Jensen (Patty Jenkins is a producer). However as fairly because it appears, sitting by 100 minutes of Pine doing desperately unfunny schtick turns into a chore.
The very fact is, TIFF audiences are notoriously form to films. I’ve seen duds get bit rounds of applause, as we Canadians are respectful, irrespective of how unhealthy a film is. But, the excitement round TIFF following Poolman‘s premiere has been lethal (including insult to harm, there was an enormous plan to display screen this on 35mm on particularly created prints that by no means occurred). Pine’s first movie landed with a thud, however it’s proof that comedy may be powerful to tug off, even when tinged with drama. This desperately needs to be the subsequent Huge Lebowski or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, however it could be higher for all concerned if Poolman comes and goes with out a lot fuss.
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