Harper is brought to Louisiana bayou country to help out an old girlfriend who is worried that her husband will find out that she is cheating on him. What is more, he finds himself caught in a power struggle between the matriarch of the family and a greedy oil baron, who wants her property. Poor Harper! Things are not as straight-forward as they initially appeared. A big-city private detective travels to the Deep South to help out an old girlfriend who is worried that her husband will find out that she is cheating on him. Paul Newman takes on the gumshoe role once more in this eminently watchable outing. True to style, the plot becomes increasingly convoluted, with the odd body turning-up here and there. Newman does that easy, laconic Newman thing and the director seems to almost pace the movie around his style. Lots of other fine actors give convincing turns, including not-so-often-seen Tony Franciosa (a frequent face in TV's 'The Name Of The Game'), who seems to be having a little trouble with his good-'ol-boy accent. Then there's a pert and very youthful Melanie Griffiths, playing the role of a spoilt but vixenish adolescent temptress. Everyone has their own agenda. Everybody is keeping secrets. Nobody is quite what they appear.<br/><br/>There's a superficial plot about land title and oil exploitation. There's a little book full of very revealing details about civic and industrial corruption. And then there's some deep-seated unresolved family issues that could themselves bubble-up into murder. Everything just juggles along as the movie unfolds. There's a lot more psychological manipulation than on-screen cruelty and violence, which is how I like my movies.<br/><br/>It's not exactly a classic, but highly recommended even so. Paul Newman reprises his role of Lew Harper in "The Drowning Pool," a 1975 film also starring Joanne Woodward, Tony Franciosa, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, and Melanie Griffith.<br/><br/>I'll say right off that I love Paul Newman, and it was amazing to see Gail Strickland and Melanie Griffith so young, but anything having to do with dogfighting means I fast-forward. Also I must have some form of night blindness because a lot of scenes were in the dark and I couldn't make them out.<br/><br/>Anyway, Newman attempts to help an ex-girlfriend (Woodward), who is being blackmailed. Before he knows it, he's involved in the quest for an accounting book and murder, besides the blackmail. It's a complex plot with several threads joining together. I think it could have been done better. The scene where Newman and Strickland are trapped is spectacular.<br/><br/>The performances are all good, with Newman shining as Harper. Every time I see him, I think he was at the height of his looks, and it's always a different era. Let's just say he looks great. He and Franciosa are standouts, with Woodward excellent but not having a great deal to do. Griffith is a baby, but that voice is unmistakable.<br/><br/>All in all, a must-see for Newman fans, but if you don't like dog-fighting, get ready to fast forward. Yuck. The Drowning Pool is stylish, improbable, entertaining, superficial, well cast, and totally synthetic. Stuart Rosenberg’s direction is functional and unexciting.
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365 weeks ago