Our own Chris Bumbray caught Chris Pine’s Poolman at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and absolutely loved the movie, calling it “desperately unfunny,” “grating,” “and “one of the worst movies I’ve ever reviewed.” High praise indeed. The first trailer for Poolman was recently released, giving audiences the chance to check out this cinematic triumph for themselves.
Poolman tells the story of “Darren Barrenman (Pine), a native Los 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. When he is tasked by a femme fatale to uncover the truth behind a shady business deal, Darren enlists the help of his friends to take on a corrupt politician and a greedy land developer. His investigation reveals a hidden truth about his beloved city and himself.” In addition to starring in Poolman, Pine also made his directorial debut with the film and co-wrote the script with Ian Gotler.
When it came to stepping behind the camera for the first time, Pine told Entertainment Weekly that he “hadn’t thought about directing until I happened upon this idea. It was the idea that really wouldn’t let go of me and wouldn’t let me wiggle out of directing duties. I loved having ownership of this creation from top to bottom. The ability to fully express myself was deeply satisfying.” Pine also managed to gather quite the stacked cast for Poolman, with DeWanda Wise, Annette Bening, Danny DeVito, and Jennifer Jason Leigh starring alongside him. “I love actors and there I was working with some of the best actors in our business,” Pine said. “It was a marvel to watch them discover and create right in front of my eyes. And whatever anxiety I may have had directing Oscar winners evaporated quite quickly under the heat of ‘no money, no time.’“
You likely don’t need more convincing to place Poolman in your best movies of the year list, but I’ll let Chris Bumbray seal the deal. “A movie like this lives and dies by its central character, and Pine is never convincing as a down-and-out hippie Poolman,” Bumbray wrote in his review. “He’s trying to stretch beyond his leading man comfort level, and while his roguish charm was funny in Dungeons & Dragons, he’s not able to make Darren anything more than a joke, and a bad one at that… You never invest in the mystery because Pine is nothing less than grating in the lead role… This desperately wants to be the next Big Lebowski or Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, but it would be better for all involved if Poolman comes and goes without much fuss.” You can check out the rest of Bumbray’s glowing review right here.
What did you think of the Poolman trailer? Will you be watching when it hits theaters on May 10th?