This and a few other scenes are truly suspenseful, but for the most part the film is a synthetic, forced story peopled with some interesting characters and fine performances.
The Drowning Pool (1975)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 13
Fresh: 8
Rotten:5
Average Rating: 5.5/10
Runtime: 1 hr 49 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Sophisticated private eye Lew Harper returns, this time coming to the rescue of old flame Iris Devereaux (Joanne Woodward). Iris is being victimized by an anonymous blackmailer who's threatening to... Sophisticated private eye Lew Harper returns, this time coming to the rescue of old flame Iris Devereaux (Joanne Woodward). Iris is being victimized by an anonymous blackmailer who's threatening to reveal her infidelities to her husband. Paul Newman is as game as ever in this HARPER (1966) sequel, which also serves as a reunion between the legendary star and COOL HAND LUKE director Stuart Rosenberg. [More]
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Melanie Griffith
Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Franciosa, Melanie Griffith, Linda Haynes, Coral Browne, Murray Hamilton, Gail Strickland, Richard Jaeckel
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Director: Stuart Rosenberg
Screenwriter: Tracy Keenan Wynn, Lorenzo Semple Jr., Walter Hill
Producer: Lawrence Turman, David Foster
Composer: Michael Small, Charles Fox
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Reviews for The Drowning Pool
Stylish, improbable, entertaining, superficial, well cast, and totally synthetic.
Unfortunately, Rosenberg directs flatly, hopping from one set piece to the next, disjointedly throwing characters of varying interest across Newman's path.
As a convoluted caper it generates action rather than character and surface mystery rather than meaning.
About a cool gumshoe with a one-track mind solving the case he's on
Dullish detective yarn that promises a great deal more than it delivers in story, direction or atmosphere.
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