Let’s swim some funny and melancholy laps.
The look of the independent comedy “Pools” is as bright in yellows as a Wes Anderson movie. It even has the zoom-in and zoom-out of a Wes Anderson movie. I did an interview with the filmmaker Sam Hayes, who told me his visual style was actually out of Edgar Wright. And that does make sense, given how he made “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.”
He also explains how the concept of “Pools” was inspired by his youth, and the idea of pool hopping and the youngsters who have their highs and lows out of life. I was reminded of how the Z-Boys were breaking into rich homes and draining their pools to skateboard in them.
Odessa A’zion (“Hellraiser,” “Am I OK”) plays Kennedy, a troubled college student trapped in summer school, as she’s struggling to get over the loss of her father. At this point, she skips her classes, gets criticized by the dean Miss Lewis (Suzanne Cryer), and complains about her broken AC. Her only recourse seems to be finding a pool to swim in. Maybe sitting under water long enough could allow her to reconnect with her father. Or maybe she could drown.
She collaborates with her dorky friend and would-be med student Blake (Tyler Alvarez from “Orange is the New Black”), the handsome Reed (Mason Gooding), her former friend Delaney (Ariel Winter), and her roommate Shane (Francesca Noel from TV’s “Goosebumps”) to find the perfect pool. They have the tiny alcohol bottles and cardio to jump in and come out when the owners show up. But a rich house, which is preparing for a wedding, is the perfect spot, especially when nobody is home.
And there’s also the AC guy Michael (Michael Vlamis, also an executive producer and also somebody I interviewed), who is about to be fired for his incompetence and for sleeping with a rich client’s wife. He breaks into the same rich house Kennedy crashes at, and they have a much better connection now than they did before. He was the one to charge her for fixing her dorm AC, while she refuses to pay him. And yet, it never becomes an ongoing competition between them, which is refreshing.
We don’t get much out of all the characters, but we do get some insightful takes on the main heroine and the AC guy, and they’re both nicely played by A’zion and Vlamis. People do have their troubles and need to find their ambitions in life, so it’s easy to acknowledge them. We do question their behaviors, but what generation of youngsters wouldn’t have them?
Summer may be over in a few days, but at least “Pools” has a good spirit and comic energy on the inside, and it’s still warm outside. I was laughing at whatever situation pops up, and the actors handle them in honest and goofy fashions. And I appreciate the little things like the movie provides for us. Kudos to Hayes to taking us to the pool and introducing us to these swimmer and hoppers. And there’s not too much chlorine in the water.
In Select Theaters This Week
Expanding to Additional Theaters Next Week
