The many (many) godawful reviews have only made Chris Pine love Poolman more
"After the reviews in Toronto, I was like maybe I did make a pile of shit. I went back and watched it… I love this film so much."
Aux News Poolman
Chris Pine’s directorial debut, Poolman, has not been having a good time with critics. The film has, in fact, been panned about as hard as a movie can be, both during its debut last year at the Toronto International Film Festival, and then again this month, when it began getting screened to a wider group of viewers. Although a few critics found something to like in Pine’s attempts to channel Chinatown and The Big Lebowski into a new L.A.-set neo-comedy-noir, our own Emma Keates was firmly in the majority when she noted that “Poolman sinks long before it gives itself the chance to swim.”
To which Pine himself says: Your hatred has only made him love his movie more. Pine revealed his take on the film’s reception during a recent appearance on Josh Horowitz’s Happy Sad Confused podcast, noting that the time between TIFF and now has given him a chance to really run through a cycle of (mostly very bad) reactions to his movie. “I watched my film,” he told Horowitz. “After the reviews in Toronto I was like maybe I did make a pile of shit, I went back and watched it. I fucking love this film. I love this film so much.”
Here’s more of Pine’s reactions, which also included stating that he’s working on his feelings about negative reviews with a therapist (which we genuinely applaud!), and included at least one quote in Latin (“Vigor grows from the wound”):
When the film came out at Toronto and just got fucking panned…I tried to make a joyful film. With so much joy behind it, to then be met with a fusillade of not-so-joyous stuff…the cognitive dissonance there was quite something. It’s ultimately been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. It’s forced me to double down on joy and really double down on what I love most about my job, which you kind of forget, it’s fundamentally about play. You become children for hours a day and make believe. There’s an impish quality that I don’t want to lose.
63 Comments
You know, good for him.
Yeah. Like we can deservedly mock the movie, but it was clearly a labor of love. So great that Pine was able to process that reaction in such a healthy way.Even after this movie, he continues to be the best of the Chris’.
Yeah, he could be taking to the Internet to rant and rave about how people “just don’t get it”, but he seems to be taking the criticism in stride and still enjoys what he made. It’s an admirable attitude.
Oh, I thought Hemsworth was still on top of the power rankings. Guess I need to update my chart…
I gotta put Hemsworth & Evans above Pine.
We live in a time of Chris abundance.
We’ve reached Chris-ical mass?
Chris-mass?fuck it, sure
Honestly I feel like it’s a tie! Actually honestly Evans has slid down slightly for me, so for me it’s a tie between Pine and Hemsworth.
The lack of his mentioned name must mean that we’re post-peak-Pratt.
Pratt has always been the worst Chris.
Pratt demolished the last of his goodwill alongside the Zimmerman house.
Hemsworth is a tricky one as he is pushing a slight reinvention of himself with some recent choices. Might put him above Pine on my list, but will have to think about it more.
I think my list would beHemsworth
PineEvansRockTuckerKattan~~~~~
Pratt
*Chrises (sorry)
No need to apologize, I was actually trying to figure out while writing what was the correct way to do it and now looking at it again see the obvious error there.
I agree. He made something he loved. He’s not hating on the critics or saying that they’re idiots and that he made a masterpiece. He made something he loved, and he still loves it, and good for him. You’re allowed to love something you worked really hard on.
He seems pretty contented, all that money and fame aside. And I mean that without a bit of snark.
Agreed. I mean, obviously it’s easier to bounce back when you can look at your bank account and into the mirror and see multiple commas in the first and Chris fucking Pine in the second, but I love the healthy attitude he’s taking here.
At least he’s not blaming the ‘woke left’ and ‘pc culture’ or whatever, as that is definitely a washed-up, angry old man, loser move. Even if the movie is terrible, it’s had no effect on how strangely cool Chris Pine is.
“No one knows who I am, no one likes my film, and they think I’m Jeff Daniels.”
Well, two out of three ain’t bad.
Healthy attitude. Wise aesthetic.
Fuck them critics! Watched Under the Silver Lake recently and that movie kicked ass but was shocked it was only at 55% on Rotten Tomatoes.
That means 55% of critics agreed with you.
I wonder why 60% is the Fresh cutoff on RT instead of 50%.
Pass/fail? I think below 60 is typically an F.
That makes it sounds like 60 is a D-, and I don’t think that’s how RT works.
Well we certainly won’t trust your judgement, being so familiar with D-’s and all.
I think 50% would be Certified Meh. You have to reach the 60% threshold to break the Meh Filibuster.
But even 51% would mean more liked it than disliked it, and since RT uses a thumbs up/down system I think 50% would make the most sense.
Under the Silver Lake is fantastic
Wow, I find that surprising. Such a great movie.
Fortunately I can separate my appreciation of Chris Pine from a bad (allegedly) movie he made. At this point I’m curious enough to invest two hours finding out firsthand.
I enjoy him in the Star Trek movies, but I think I had no particular feelings toward him until the D&D movie.. don’t squander that goodwill, Chris!
I think it does sound like a good attitude but I do think artists need a degree of self awareness that some of this stuff sounds like he might be lacking? *shrug*
Check out Hell or High Water. He co-stars with Ben Foster, another guy who livens up anything he’s in (3:10 to Yuma a prime example). But I generally like that he seems to be a fun guy who loves what he does.
I’ve always wondered why I don’t see Foster in more stuff. He’s always great.
He steals 3:10 right out from under Bale and Crowe, which is saying something.
Hell or High Water is such a great movie. Nearly perfect from beginning to end–and that cast is spectacular. Been a hot minute since I’ve seen it, but I do remember being impressed with just how perfect everyone in it was.
Oh yes I did like that one! And I enjoyed his part in Wonder Woman. Clearly committed some Chris Pine erasure, also probably haven’t seen other works of his out of my wheelhouse that might be good.
Honestly, the way he’s handling this makes me really want to enjoy the movie whenever I (potentially) see it.
I occasionally go back to Tim Burton’s Ed Wood just to remind myself that no matter how bad an artist someone is, that doesn’t mean at all that they can’t be a perfectly good and nice person who deserves happiness like anyone else. And if they’re still proud of their work, that should be celebrated.
I tell you what, this makes me like him more. He wasn’t so blinded to his own genius that he refused to believe he could have made a stinker. He took the time to go back and check if it was a turd or not.
Honestly, good for him. He made something that was for him and he loved and it seems like he’s the only one. But he is not hating on the critics, nor does he feel ashamed – he disagrees but loves what he made. That is seriously a great attitude and good for him.I imagine some people see a cognitive dissonance because not every celebrity has enough cache to even get their dream project made. And moreover, some who do have it end up being panned in a way that it seems like a rejection of the movie is a rejection of the artist. So it’s like Pine should feel crappy, but he doesn’t, or at least doesn’t appear to be. And again, kudos to him. I still won’t see the Poolman, but I am glad that Pine is happy he got to make it.
Like Showgirls, Plan 9 from Outer Space, and Catwoman, the uniformly terrible reviews are making me want to see this more than ever
Manos?
Definitely on my list. Have you seen that one?
Only on MST3K. But I have read the book about the making of by The Master’s daughter.
I saw a poll saying Ballistics: Ecks vs Sever (sp) is the worst film of all time, so that’s been added to my list as well
Yikes. The title alone is making my nuts creep up into my large intestine.
You know….”Manos”. As terrible as Manos is, I can actually get through the film (well, the MST3K edited version anyway. I’m glad they cut out the overlong scene of The Master slapping his wife around. Yeesh.) a lot easier than some other films they featured. Manos was at least bizarre enough to sit through at least once (plus it has that groovy ‘60’s soundtrack that’s decent). The Castle Of Fu Manchu, a dull slog that shamefully wasted the talents of Sir Christophe Lee, was harder to get through. Even Joel and the Bots kind of gave up halfway through that one.
“Looks like a…Frank Frazetta of Frank Zappa!”
Sunk cost fallacy
I keep seeing Chris Pine and thinking, Its time for a D&D rewatch
I just watched it again a couple of weeks ago. Such a fun movie, and Pine seems like he’s having a great time in it.
I enjoyed the hell out of it. A lot of it was so reminiscent of past games that my friends and I played too. My favorite scenes are the graveyard one and of course the illusion malfunction. I nearly wet ’em during the latter.
So which means potential cult and meme classic once it hits streaming and after a couple of years.
Like his love for his film, my love for Chris Pine grows more and more every day.
If only your love for Chris Pine could pay my mortgage and run my car.
I predict a cultural re-evaluation of this movie in 10 to 20 years. There are tons of examples of movies that were initially panned that are now highly regarded.
This movie is going to be a cult favorite years from now, isn’t it?
I’m the same way about Con Air.