IGN.com|AskMen.com|Rotten Tomatoes|GameSpy|FilePlanet|TeamXbox|CheatsCodesGuides|GameStats|Direct2Drive
RottenTomatoes.com
Register | Log In | What is RT?
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Trailers & Pictures The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
RT Search Powered by Google
help icon Enhanced RT
searches on Google
Click here to turn on enhanced search results from RT on your Google searches by subscribing to our Google Subscribed Links profile.
 
Movies / In Theaters / The Pool
The Pool

Rate this Movie Help Icon

  • Write a Review
  • Read Reviews
  • Email to a Friend
  • Add to List
  • Bookmark and Share
  • Showtimes & Tickets
  • Buy Poster External Icon
  • Visit Official Site External Icon

The Pool (2008)

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
96 %
Tomatometer

How does the Tomatometer work Help Icon

Reviews Counted: 24

Fresh: 23

Rotten:1

Average Rating: 7.4/10

Consensus: Beautifully crafted with loosely drawn characters and a lilting, natural pace, Chris Smith's The Pool features a universal message to which everyone can relate.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Genre: Dramas

Theatrical Release: Sep 5, 2008 Limited

Synopsis: A filmmaker who returns to Sundance in a new guise is a familiar enough occurrence, but to return with gifts as uniquely rendered as Chris Smith has with The Pool is rare in any year. In the same vein as his latest documentary work, Smith's... A filmmaker who returns to Sundance in a new guise is a familiar enough occurrence, but to return with gifts as uniquely rendered as Chris Smith has with The Pool is rare in any year. In the same vein as his latest documentary work, Smith's creative acumen focuses on the gulf between the rich and poor, sharing its insights, observations, poignancy, and truth in a deceptively simple narrative.

The Pool is the story of Venkatesh, a "room boy" working at a hotel in Panjim, Goa, who sees from his perch in a mango tree a luxuriant garden and shimmering pool hidden behind a wall. In making whatever efforts he can to better himself, Venkatesh offers his services to the wealthy owner of the home. Not content to simply dream about a different life, Venkatesh is inquisitive about the home's inhabitants-indeed about the world around him-and his curiosity changes the shape of his future.

Remarkably cogent and affecting, this is inspired storytelling distinctive for its ability to transmit a complete viewpoint in just a phrase or brief conversation. Working in Hindi with young actors and in a country obviously not his own, Smith has nevertheless created a superbly incisive portrait that will take a place on a global stage. --© Official Site [More]

Starring: Nana Patekar, Venkatesh Chavan, Jhangir Badshah, Ayesha Mohan

Starring: Nana Patekar, Venkatesh Chavan, Jhangir Badshah, Ayesha Mohan

Director: Chris Smith

Director: Chris Smith
Producer: Kate Noble
Composer: Didier Leplae, Joe Wong
Studio: Cinetic Media

[See More Credits]

  • Trailers
  • Pictures
1 - 5 of 13

See More Movie Trailers & Pictures

Reviews for The Pool

  • T-Meter Critics
  • Top Critics
  • RT Community
  • My Critics
  • My Friends
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
Arrange By: Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 
Ratings Image

The Pool takes viewers on a journey to Goa that is startling not only in the lush physical beauty it reveals but also in the subtle, finely wrought emotions it stirs.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
10/09/08
Ann Hornaday
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The Pool is as quietly pleasant as its namesake.

Full Review Source: Washington City Paper | comment Comment
10/09/08
Tricia Olszewski
Washington City Paper
Ratings Image

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.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
10/03/08
Michael Hardy
Boston Globe
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It doesn't sound like much, but in the hands of director Chris Smith, this setup makes for a good small-scale observational picture about young people finding that the world is a larger place than they imagined.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
09/26/08
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

For his keenly observant narrative feature debut, documentary filmmaker Chris Smith and writer Randy Russell have deftly transposed Russell's short story The Pool from Iowa to the Indian state of Goa, in the small city of Panjim.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
09/19/08
Kevin Thomas
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

A film that is a kind of counter-film, which sets expectations in an environment that supports unexpected results.

Full Review Source: New Republic | comment Comment
09/17/08
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Documentary filmmaker Chris Smith's feature debut is startling, original and quietly winning.

Full Review Source: Windy City Times | comment Comment
09/16/08
Richard Knight
Windy City Times
Ratings Image

The resonant, beautifully naturalistic drama The Pool is a return to the familiar subject of haves and have-nots for director Chris Smith.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
09/05/08
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

A lovely, warm, unforced film that gives you time to get to know its characters and isn't propelled by any artificial narrative conventions, or for that matter by any Dickensian social outrage.

Full Review Source: Salon.com | comment Comment
09/05/08
Andrew O'Hehir
Salon.com
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

This unassuming yet hugely ambitious undertaking reveals a filmmaker with an impressive range and depth of feeling that is only now becoming apparent.

Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | comment Comment
09/05/08
Ken Fox
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

A charming and enjoyable movie.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
09/05/08
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

A quiet, quirky, well-observed fiction about aspiration and connection.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
09/05/08
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

The film has a refreshing sense of proportion without seeming as determinedly minor or mannered as other indies. It's a vivid piece of sketchwork.

Full Review Source: Onion AV Club | comment Comment
09/04/08
Scott Tobias
Onion AV Club
Ratings Image

Instead of a collection of souvenir-tchotchke exotic vistas, The Pool is an album of observed human minutiae.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
09/04/08
Nick Pinkerton
Village Voice
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It’s hard to think of a more welcome piece of American filmmaking.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
09/04/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
Ratings Image

Chris Smith's low-key coming-of-age film/slice of contemporary Indian life takes forever to get where it's going, which turns out to be pretty much nowhere.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
09/03/08
Steve Simels
Boxoffice Magazine
Ratings Image

The Pool takes a look at the lives of the haves and the someday might haves in Goa.

comment Comment
09/03/08
Stephen Holden
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It is rare to find a very well crafted film that conveys a gentle and sensitive universal message that everyone can understand, without being considered silly or sappy.

Full Review Source: HDFest.com | comment Comment
09/02/08
Gerald Wright
HDFest.com
Ratings Image

It is rare to find a very well crafted film that conveys a gentle and sensitive universal message that everyone can understand, without being considered silly or sappy.

Full Review Source: HDFest.com | comment Comment
09/02/08
Gerald Wright
HDFest.com
Ratings Image

Such a different movie from the Americana Chris Smith has covered in his previous films ... but it's a refreshing departure that gives us a different glimpse at the people of India than we've seen in common Bollywood fare.

Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
09/02/08
Edward Douglas
ComingSoon.net
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View | 1 2 >> >|
all

Latest News for The Pool

January 28, 2007: Sundance Awards: "Padre Nuestro," "Grace is Gone" Among Competition Winners
Results are in for this year's Sundance festival winners, including awards for John Cusack's "Grace is Gone," Christopher Zalla's "Padre Nuestro," NASA... More...

See More Topics...

Related Forums for The Pool

REEL_REVIEWER
(2008 release)-Chris Smith's THE POOL opens September 3rd in NYC @ the Film Forum!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/11


REEL_REVIEWER
(2008 release)-Chris Smith's THE POOL opens September 3rd in NYC @ the Film Forum!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/11


REEL_REVIEWER
(2008 release)-Chris Smith's THE POOL opens September 3rd in NYC @ the Film Forum!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/11


REEL_REVIEWER
(2008 release)-Chris Smith's THE POOL opens September 3rd in NYC @ the Film Forum!!!
by: REEL_REVIEWER 9/11


Darko, Donnie
Chris Smith's THE POOL nabs an Independent SPIRIT nom, but not a distributor???
by: Darko, Donnie 11/27/07
See All

More Movies

Top Box Office
Tomatometer Percentage Movie Gross
ROTTEN: 1 43% Beverly Hills Chihuahua $29.3M
ROTTEN: 2 27% Eagle Eye $17.7M
FRESH: 3 72% Nick and Norah's Infin… $11.3M
ROTTEN: 4 29% Nights in Rodanthe $7.4M
FRESH: 5 75% Appaloosa $5.1M
ROTTEN: 6 42% Lakeview Terrace $4.6M
FRESH: 7 78% Burn After Reading $4.1M
ROTTEN: 8 46% Fireproof $4.0M
ROTTEN: 9 13% An American Carol $3.7M
FRESH: 10 68% Religulous $3.4M

In Theaters | More Box Office…

What’s Hot On RT

Brad Pitt, Florist?

Brad Pitt, Florist?

De Niro, Tucci in What Just Happened

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat

Plan your costume with our Halloween Guide!

That's Hot

That's Hot

Paris Hilton picks her favorite films.

Toon vs. Toon

Toon vs. Toon

We rank the best animated films of all time!

More Info

RT To Go

Get this widget! Movie Reviews

Around The Network

  • The Pool at Rotten Tomatoes
 
 
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN Logo

IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive


By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Privacy Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.