Good , But It Is Overrated By Some

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

An LA gumshoe is charmed by an old flame into traveling to New Orleans to find out who's blackmailing her. There he enters an expanding web of intrigue. Over the years, I've learned to beware of PI movies featuring celebrity stars. That's because the storyline's probably padded to justify the star's lengthy screen time. After all big bucks and reputations are at stake. I guess my PI preferences are for tight productions where a tight plot is foremost, basically those B-movies from the 40's and 50's.Perhaps he was disinterested in the sloppy script, but Newman underplays throughout. As a result, attention moves from him to the many colorful supporting players. At least that way, he gets the required screen time but without dominating the scenes themselves. The movie's highlight, of course, is the white-knuckle drowning pool. How the heck are the trapped Harper and Mavis (Strickland) going to escape the sealed room as the water surrounding them gets higher and higher and the ceiling closer and closer. Nothing they try seems to work. Like the rest of the film, the predicament's resolution again shows that Harper's no miracle man. Also on the plus side, there's plenty of sexy skin and come-on's for the guys, even including a shirtless Newman for the gals.However, the plot's almost incomprehensible, meandering around in 10 different directions to fill out the 2-hour runtime. Likely that provided parts for the large supporting cast of this A- production. Maybe the many plot threads tie up in the end, but after all the convolutions, who cares. It's then that I appreciated the virtues of those old B-movie screenplays.All in all, the movie's mainly for Newman fans, though it appears he came to dislike the results that would also be the last Harper entry (IMDB).

Paul Newman returns to the role of Lew Harper, private detective, previously seen in the 1966 film "Harper". Here Harper comes to the aid of Iris (Joanne Woodward), a former lover. It seems that Iris is being blackmailed, but as any fan of murder mysteries could expect, this story detail is really just the tip of the iceberg. Also involved are a greedy, conniving oil baron (a delicious Murray Hamilton), Iris's chilly mother in law (Coral Browne), her Lolita like daughter Schuyler (Melanie Griffith), and a none too bright ex-chauffeur (Andy Robinson). The cast also includes Anthony Franciosa and Richard Jaeckel as local detectives, Gail Strickland as the oil barons' wife, Linda Haynes as the ex-chauffeurs' gal pal, Helena Kallianiotes as his sister, and Paul Koslo as a thug. As we can see, this is a mighty fine bunch of actors, and they do a more than adequate job of keeping this thing watchable, even as it maintains a rather deliberate pace. Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr., and Walter Hill adapt the novel for the screen, and create a reasonably effective, absorbing mystery that succeeds in doling out amusing twists and turns. Newman as always is wonderful, playing the part of Harper with wit and style and doing particularly fine working alongside Franciosa, Hamilton, and his real-life wife Woodward. The story is set in New Orleans, but it would have been nice to have been able to savour a little more of that atmosphere inherent to the city. Michael Small composed the solid music score; the cinematography is by the great Gordon Willis. Reunited with Newman is his "Cool Hand Luke" and "Pocket Money" director Stuart Rosenberg, who creates some good suspense, at least in the most memorable scene of the film; I won't spoil it here but you will know it when you see it. All in all, fans of the genre should have a pretty good time with this. It's slickly made, if not altogether memorable, but you still can't ever really go wrong with watching Paul Newman at work. Seven out of 10.

'The Drowning Pool'is an overlooked gem in my opinion, however a gem with many flaws,as pointed out in other reviews on this site. The plot, parts of the script, much of the shooting and location are wonderful...but the direction and editing in particular were just lazy and thoughtless! Apparently Newman and the director were buddies, well maybe that's where the problem lay...I think this would be an ideal film to remake and to this time produce the masterpiece that could have been. Keep the wise cracking private eye, the uneasy relationship between grandmother, mother and daughter, the sadistic oil man, the creepy Gothic overtones and mix it up with the right actors and you've got dynamite. Coen brothers required?

What a lesson this is in how slight humor moves out of its zone in time! When this was new, Paul Newman delivered a perfect character, one with smart, funny lines, an attitude and a sexual presence. We saw New Orleans, which then by definition was something of a fun joke. We had sexual encounters with four sexy women. And we had one impressive stunt. Newman's character is trapped in an abandoned mental hospital. He and the villain's sexy wife have as few clothes as the raters will allow, and fill the room with water with the plan of floating to a skylight to escape.When we saw this new, somehow we didn't care that Newman's 50 year old body was not attractive. The sexy women — who include a seventeen year old Melanie Griffith, are by today's standards as outside the profile of humorous sex and the other humor is. Nothing works here, including the 70's shirts and hair styles.When Newman finally thought he achieved a level of competence in acting — decades later — this would be one of the main films he would mention as horrible.Except for Newman, Woodward and Lolita Griffith, all the actors were pulled from the TeeVee pool, and look like it.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.