The new trailer forChris Pine’s directorial debut,Poolman, has just dropped ahead of its release on May 10.Poolmantakes audiences along for the adventures of Darren Barrenman, portrayed by Pine, a devoted Angeleno who dedicates his days to maintaining the pool at the Tahitian Tiki residential complex and striving to improve his city. His routine life takes a turn when a mysterious woman entrusts him with the task of digging into a dubious business transaction. To confront a conniving politician and a dodgy property developer, Darren rallies his friends for support. His journey not only uncovers hidden aspects of the city he adores but also leads to personal revelations that will shake Darren to his core.
The trailer highlights the quirky group of characters that surround Darren, along with the offbeat tone Pine is going for. The cast is bolstered with performances by a glittering cast including the likes ofAnnette Bening, Danny DeVito, Jennifer Jason Leigh,DeWanda Wise,Stephen Tobolowsky, Clancy Brown, John Ortiz, and Ray Wise.
Is ‘Poolman’ Worth Seeing?
The film has received mixed reviews after its debut at last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, sitting at a disappointing 23% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In her review of the movie,Collider’sTania Hussainlabelled it a “misfire of a movie”.
It’s sad that under the film’s misgivings, there’s a lot to work with and better, but Pine can’t seem to let this movie even take a lap. Instead, it sinks before it can swim due to an excessively tuned frenetic energy that feels way too quirky and mismatched in comparison to the rest of the film and its characters. While the film tries and gets points for participation, there is too much merriment in its dialogue that drives the story off its axis and offers more of a half-baked concept that gets buried in its ideas.
Pine’s execution in his 100-minute directorial feature lacks focus, despite his efforts to put it all together for a sharp debut. While Darren is as quirky as he can be and has some of the most humorous dialogue despite being amidst a cast of funny stars, including DeVito, it never synthesizes the way it needs to and, instead, metastasizes into something far out from our collective view. It would be unfair to say this movie was entertaining as it was much slower than expected and irritating at times because you really wanted it to be better.
Poolmanis due to be released in theatres on May 10. You can check out the trailer below.
Follows a hapless dreamer and would-be philosopher who spends his days looking after the pool of the Tahitian Tiki apartment block in sunny LA. When he uncovers the greatest water heist, he does what he can to protect his precious LA.
