Poolman, 2024.
Directed by Chris Pine.
Starring Chris Pine, Danny DeVito, Annette Bening, Jennifer Jason Leigh, DeWanda Wise, Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, Ray Wise, Juliet Mills, Evan Shafran, Hollis W. Chambers, Armie Hicks Jr., Ren Burttet, Christopher Chen, Laurent Schwaar, Michael Dunn, Robert Pine, Lakshmi Singh, Jackie Beat, Sam Pancake, and Drew Droege.
SYNOPSIS:
Darren Barrenman is an unwavering optimist and native Angeleno who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block and fighting to make his hometown a better place to live.
Stepping into the director chair for the first time, it’s evident that Chris Pine (who also stars in the leading role and co-writes alongside Ian Gotler) is trying to craft a screwball, zany, investigative LA-based mystery story with Poolman but curiously fails, leaving behind something empty and aggressively annoying.
Starting with Chris Pine’s portrayal of Darren Barrenman, an apartment complex poolman who is also knee-deep in citywide activism, frequently pitching solutions to the Council regarding things like reworking busy bus schedules, the voice that the actor has decided upon giving the character is decidedly cartoonishly annoying. Even during the few and far-between dramatic moments, it’s a safe bet that Chris Pine is shouting and screaming to the degree that you almost expect to see boogers hanging out of his nose during whatever impassioned speech or rant he is giving. There is no moderation to the performance, no justification for it to be this over-the-top, meaning that the central protagonist doesn’t even feel like a real human being worth investing in.
One of those councilmen is Stephen Tobolowsky’s Stephen Toronkowski (there could be a joke between the name similarity I’m not getting, especially considering most of what passes for comedy here simply isn’t funny), who might be getting involved in criminal activities with a shady real estate dealer played by Ray Wise. Darren is approached by a former actress/associate (DeWanda Wise) of Stephen, tipping him off about the suspicious happenings, which pushes the stoner himbo into some philosophical deep-thinking (dreams involving giant trees and overgrown iguanas that he ponders the meaning to) before becoming an investigator and accepting the job.
The obvious comparison is that Poolman is much like a Thomas Pynchon novel or Inherent Vice but with no idea of where such charm and fascination comes from watching such bizarre, fractured, and hazy storytelling. There certainly aren’t any compelling characters, mostly relying on the organic likability of performers such as Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh, or Annette Bening to liven up a scene. The problem is that there also isn’t anything substantial to liven up. Then there is the other apparent takeaway, which is that Chris Pine loves LA detective stories in the same vein as Chinatown (which is referenced multiple times on screen) but, again, doesn’t demonstrate much grasp on what gives them a suspenseful edge, entertaining sleaze, or a riveting narrative with exciting twists and turns.
I hesitate to say that Poolman would work without this nails-on-a-chalkboard irritating performance from Chris Pine, but it would have been more tolerable. Whether characters are divulging exposition or he is finding himself caught up in a dangerous game of betrayal or coming to the realization that his wife has left him because he actually sucks at listening to others, Darren is loudly speaking or reacting in a manner that feels detached from the rest of the experience. And that’s without getting into his inexplicable obsession with writing and sending letters to the real Erin Brockovich (not Julia Roberts.)
However, Poolman deserves some credit for its commitment to offputting eccentricity and the randomness of the elements coming together. Unfortunately, none is in the service of something fun or characters with motives worth buying into. There is potential in the silly idea of an LA-loving poolman stumbling into a detective case, but the wrong aspects of that wackiness are heightened, making this mostly insufferable but also an intriguing disaster.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★
Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Critics Choice Association. He is also the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd, or email me at MetalGearSolid719@gmail.com
