‘Poolman’ Review — Chris Pine’s oddball, off-kilter character piece is charming and strange

A review of the new comedy, in theaters now

Chris Pine grew up in Los Angeles, which you’ll be able to guess while watching his new movie Poolman. Pine’s directorial debut is practically begging you to call it a love letter to the City of Angels, and it is… but it’s a bit more nuanced than that, too. While his kooky character Darren Barrenman repeatedly insists that “Love’s alive in Los Angeles,” this is also a film about how the city chews people up and spits them out. Pretty much everyone he meets on this oddball odyssey is a failed actor, someone coming to terms with the fact that their dreams aren’t ever gonna come true… and yet, there’s not an ounce of cynicism to be found. Here we stay, because who can give up on a city like this?

This is a film in love with LA’s wackos and weirdos, its sunburnt burnouts who ride public transportation and remember the way things were. When Poolman becomes a sunlit noir that revels in the silliness of the detective genre, it’s not a movie that’s trying to be Chinatown. It’s a movie about people who have rewatched Chinatown too much, made by someone who probably rewatched Chinatown too much. Before a recent screening of the film in Los Angeles, Pine warned the audience that a lot of people seem to…