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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
67
$9.99
75
24 City
66
Adoration
74
Afghan Star
48
Alien Trespass
56
American Violet
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
57
Away We Go
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
62
Big Man Japan
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
55
Brothers Bloom, The
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
xx
Call of the Wild
63
Cheri
62
Cherry Blossoms
63
Dead Snow
65
Departures
18
Downloading Nancy
58
Easy Virtue
70
End of the Line, The
77
Every Little Step
64
Examined Life
80
Food, Inc.
38
Gigantic
56
Girl from Monaco, The
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
87
Gomorrah
89
Goodbye Solo
63
Great Buck Howard, The
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
xx
Home
82
Hunger
91
Hurt Locker, The
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
81
Il Divo
54
Is Anybody There?
71
Jerichow
58
Julia
74
Lemon Tree
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
40
Limits of Control, The
42
Little Ashes
64
Lymelife
50
Management
57
Merry Gentleman, The
66
Moon
35
New York
62
Not Forgotten
xx
Offshore
78
O'Horten
64
Outrage
40
Paris 36
54
Pontypool
71
Pressure Cooker
52
Quiet Chaos
83
Revanche
67
Rudo y Cursi
86
Seraphine
65
Sex Positive
70
Shall We Kiss?
77
Sin Nombre
59
Sleep Dealer
74
Song of Sparrows, The
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
82
Sugar
84
Summer Hours
61
Sunshine Cleaning
28
Surveillance
42
Tennessee
63
Tetro
64
Throw Down Your Heart
80
Tokyo Sonata
63
Tokyo!
70
Tony Manero
74
Treeless Mountain
88
Tulpan
74
Two Lovers
83
Tyson
83
U2 3D
60
Under Our Skin
69
Unmistaken Child
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
22
What Goes Up
45
Whatever Works
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
91
Hurt Locker, The
89
Goodbye Solo
88
Tulpan
87
Gomorrah
86
Seraphine
84
Summer Hours
83
U2 3D
83
Revanche
83
Tyson
82
Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country
82
Sugar
82
Hunger
82
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
81
Il Divo
81
Beaches of Agnes, The
80
Food, Inc.
80
Tokyo Sonata
79
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29
78
Boys: The Sherman Brothers' Story, The
78
O'Horten
77
Every Little Step
77
Sin Nombre
75
24 City
74
Treeless Mountain
74
Afghan Star
74
Two Lovers
74
Song of Sparrows, The
74
Lemon Tree
71
Pressure Cooker
71
Jerichow
70
Shall We Kiss?
70
Tony Manero
70
End of the Line, The
69
Valentino: The Last Emperor
69
Unmistaken Child
67
$9.99
67
Rudo y Cursi
67
Girlfriend Experience, The
66
Adoration
66
Moon
65
Sex Positive
65
Departures
64
Outrage
64
Examined Life
64
Throw Down Your Heart
64
Lymelife
63
Tokyo!
63
Cheri
63
Dead Snow
63
Tetro
63
Great Buck Howard, The
62
Cherry Blossoms
62
Big Man Japan
62
Not Forgotten
61
Sunshine Cleaning
60
Under Our Skin
59
Sleep Dealer
58
Julia
58
Easy Virtue
57
Away We Go
57
Merry Gentleman, The
57
Youssou Ndour: I Bring What I Love
56
Girl from Monaco, The
56
American Violet
55
Brothers Bloom, The
54
Is Anybody There?
54
Pontypool
54
Stoning of Soraya M., The
52
Quiet Chaos
50
Management
48
Alien Trespass
45
Whatever Works
42
Little Ashes
42
Tennessee
40
Limits of Control, The
40
Paris 36
38
Gigantic
36
Life is Hot in Cracktown
35
New York
28
Big Shot-Caller, The
28
Surveillance
22
What Goes Up
18
Downloading Nancy
16
I Hate Valentine's Day
xx
Call of the Wild
xx
Home
xx
Offshore
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
|
Pool, The
Vitagraph Films
FILM:
MPAA RATING: Not Rated
Starring
Jhangir Badshah,
Venkatesh Chavan,
and
Nana Patekar
Impoverished Venkatesh dreams of swimming in the pool of a well-to-do family. When he becomes friendly with the servants of the wealthy household, frequent visits to his favorite swimming spot make him long for a better way of live.
| GENRE(S): |
Comedy
|
Drama
|
| WRITTEN BY: |
Chris Smith
Randy Russell
|
| DIRECTED BY: |
Chris Smith
|
| RELEASE DATE: |
Theatrical: September 3, 2008
|
| RUNNING TIME: |
98 minutes, Color |
| ORIGIN: |
USA |
| LANGUAGE(S): |
Hindi | English |
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
100
TV Guide
Ken Fox
At the heart of this picturesque fable is a truism so shopworn it can barely stand repeating: It's better to give than to receive.
100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Stephen Cole
A miraculous, American-made Hindi film that is every bit as tranquil as the blue-green reservoir that serves as its abiding metaphor.
91
Entertainment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Smith transfers an Iowa-based short story by Randy Russell to India's western Goa region -- and works in Hindi, primarily with novice actors. The result is a story both authentically specific and profoundly global.
90
The New York Times
Stephen Holden
In the manner of a Satyajit Ray film, The Pool avoids melodrama, the better to capture the texture of Venkatesh's vagabond life.
90
The Hollywood Reporter
Sheri Linden
Uplifting without a drop of sap, the tale of a boy's obsession with a glittering swimming pool and how it changes four lives offers numerous pleasures and one of the most satisfying and resonant conclusions to be seen in recent cinema.
88
Boston Globe
Michael Hardy
Like Anderson, many directors claim to value local color, but few have gone as far, or achieved such impressive results, as has Chris Smith in The Pool.
83
The Onion (A.V. Club)
Scott Tobias
It's a funny, sweet-natured humanist character piece.
80
Salon.com
Andrew O'Hehir
A lovely, warm, unforced film that gives you time to get to know its characters and isn't propelled by any artificial narrative conventions,
75
San Francisco Chronicle
Walter Addiego
Except for Patekar, the main actors are nonprofessionals, which works nicely here.
75
Portland Oregonian
Stan Hall
In the end it may amount to little more than an exotic fable, but it is a particularly conscious, wise fable.
75
New York Post
V.A. Musetto
A charming and enjoyable movie.
75
Chicago Tribune
Michael Phillips
It's a bit schematic and sweet-natured, perhaps to a fault, yet the faces linger. Smith and his mixture of actors and non-actors remind us that an act of generosity is all it takes to change a life.
70
Los Angeles Times
Kevin Thomas
In its leisurely, exceedingly subtle way, The Pool charts Venkatesh's gradual awakening to the larger world.
70
Washington Post
Ann Hornaday
The result is a vivid portrait, not just of one unforgettable young man but also of a country in transition.
70
Variety
Robert Koehler
Smith's utterly natural filmmaking there is impressive.
70
Village Voice
Nick Pinkerton
This heightened consciousness of objects and obligations ballasts the drama-light, class-conscious fable with tactile life.
60
Film Threat
Zack Haddad
This simple film can be quite a great diversion from our every day grind. The camera style, characters, and visual look are all quite impressive, while maintaining an easy accessibility for the audience's eyes. It is only too bad that the film feels so sluggish.
58
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Bill White
Pleasant viewing, but the unbalanced script and amateur performances keep it from being much more than a walk in the park.
40
New York Daily News
Joe Neumaier
Smith ("American Movie") sees the poetry in everyday people, and lets his rambling story find its own rhythm.
 The average user rating for this movie is 9.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
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