CARPOOL
A film review by Chuck Dowling
Copyright 1996 Chuck Dowling
(1996) *1/2 - C:Tom Arnold, David Paymer, Rod Steiger, Rhea Perlman.
Keep in mind that this film is directed by Arthur Hiller, the man who is the president of the Motion Picture Academy. The man who theoretically should have seen every good movie made since his term of office began. The man who directed the hilarious Alan Arkin/Peter Falk comedy "The In-Laws" and also such acclaimed films as "Love Story" and "The Hospital". Keep in mind that the film's producer, Arnon Milchan, has produced some of the best films in the last fifteen years, such as "The King of Comedy", "JFK", and "Falling Down". With such experience, these men know exactly what makes a movie great. Which is why it's so shocking that "Carpool" is a truly horrible mess.
The plot is extremely simple. As a matter of fact, the plot is beyond simple. Tom Arnold robs a gourmet pastry shop, kidnaps David Paymer and takes his minvan, only to discover that Paymer was driving the neighborhood kids to school. And for the rest of the film they have to not get caught by the Seattle police, who are portrayed as the most inept police force on the planet.
What's so troublesome about the film is that it's "PG". It's meant to be a kids film. But there are things in this film that are completely inappropriate for kids. There are gay jokes, jokes about breast enlargement, young teenage boys grabbing and feeling young teenage girls, and other such things. Also, Tom Arnold is portrayed as a hero and the cops, of course, are idiots. Good message for the children. And the worst thing about the film, regardless of what kinds of jokes there are, they just aren't funny, no matter how old you are. The crowd in the theater when I saw the film laughed once, and that was when a kid stuck a gummi bear up his nose. Comedy gold to little kids you know. There were one or two lines in the film which I found humorous, but certainly not enough to carry the entire film.
There's one ridiculous thing about a scene in the film I'd like to comment on (there are many actually, but I just don't have that kind of time to comment on all of them). At one point the "good guys" are at a carnival, fleeing from the bad guys. One of the kids is riding a ferris wheel and someone bumps a lever and the ferris wheel starts to spin dangerously fast. And of course they have to save the kid. Now, why would an amusement park ride have a setting on it which would never be used and is certain to cause death? Just a thought.
Now I need to justify why I saw this film. The ONLY reason I watched it was because my favorite actor, Rod Steiger, was in it. Arthur Hiller was smart enough to get an actor he's worked with in the past (1976's "W.C. Fields and Me") and then not smart enough to give him anything to do. He's in the last five minutes of the film and he does a good job as always with what he's given, but it's just not enough. And Hiller should be beaten for actually putting Steiger in a clown outfit at the end and having him sell doughnuts at a carnival. Booooooooooo Mr. Hiller.
At one point in the film, David Paymer says to someone "This isn't funny". Mr. Paymer, you're exactly right.
-- Chuck Dowling Visit Chuck's Movie Reviews at http://users.southeast.net/~chuckd21/ Over 1,500 movies rated and/or reviewed! Movie news, box office reports, film related links, and reader's polls and reviews.
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