Poolman

Everyone has to start somewhere. Chris Pine decided to go with Poolman which he directed, co-wrote with Ian Gotler, produced and stars in. That all means he carries an awful lot of the responsibility.

Darren Barrenman (Chris Pine) is a the poolman at the Tahitian Tiki apartment block converted from a motel, cleaning the pool. It’s an idyllic life to a certain point because as a man who love Los Angeles he’s deeply concerned about the state of the city.

This love is displayed at the weekly community meetings where he is the bane of councilman Stephen Toronkowsky (Stephen Tobolowsky). That is established early on, though the plot as far as there is one, concerns the endemic corruption in his beloved city. He’s approached by June Del Rey (DeWanda Wise) to investigate the goings on.

This leads to confrontations with city magnates, heavies and dragging in his eccentric friends to help as well as his put-upon girlfriend Susan (Jennifer Jason Leigh). LA corruption, film noir in the brightest of sunshine in the sunshine state: It couldn’t fail.

It’s an odd film where the filmmakers have tried to carry the viewer on a vibe rather than any great plot or narrative drives. That puts pressure on the cast, and it’s a good one, who almost to a person play eccentric, mostly annoying, characters who do actually very little other than talk at each other, or in that pitter-patter manner that Woody Allen established many years ago, in New York.

Poolman is clearly supposed to be a quirky comedy and possibly an homage to LA Noirs past. It may even be a spoof. The problem is that it isn’t very funny and actually veers towards boring with interludes of self-examination and hallucinations.

The writers and director have tried to imbue an element of mysticism that doesn’t sit well with the more hardcore corruption that the protagonists are dealing with.

As to the actors, there’s not much to say other than they did the best they could with what they had to work with. The standout is the always reliable and seemingly effortlessly funny Stephen Tobolowsky.

It could be that Poolman offers up more with repeated watches but after just one that's a difficult ask.

Poolman will be available on digital platforms on 28 June 2024.