Chaude journée à L.A.

Judging from the range of comments on Hugo Pool they seem to run the gamut. As a film, it's not the kind of thing I'd usually watch, but it did contain some rather strange characters.

Alyssa Milano in between her stints as Tony Danza's daughter in Who's The Boss and one of the Halliwell sisters in Charmed was cast in the lead by director Robert Downey, Sr. She seems to have taken complete charge of the pool cleaning company that is a family business because dad (Malcolm McDowell) is reverting to being a teenager and mom (Cathy Moriarty) can't control her gambling addiction. In fact she either has to come up with the money or sleep with the bookie.

Anyway somebody has to step up to the plate and Alyssa seems the only one likely to do so. She's got a lot of customers out there in Nevada who want to use their swimming pools because of the heat and who need them cleaned.

Anyway on her route she meets Patrick Dempsey who even with Lou Gehrig's disease is not about to miss out on all the good things in life. In fact one of only two parts of his anatomy are untouched by amytrophic lateral sclerosis, his brain and the love muscle. In fact the second has some remarkable staying power as he informs us.

Hugo Pool is the story of all these characters and the day they spend together. It's an interesting tale and maybe had it been done in a more straightforward and romantic way, I might have liked the film better.

Still it's not the fault of the cast who give some very good performances. Not mentioned by me before are Robert Downey, Jr. as an egotistical movie director and Sean Penn as a hitchhiker Malcolm McDowell picks up. Dig those sky blue shoes that Penn wears.

Hugo Pool might be your cup of tea, it wasn't quite mine though.

In "Hugo Pool" the adorable Alyssa Milano plays Hugo Dugay. A young diabetic pool cleaner who has to clean over forty pools in one day. She has some of the most eccentric David Lynch like customers, including a man (Patrick Dempsy) in a wheel chair who can only talk by a computer. Because of his kindness she can't help but fall head first, not in a pool but in love. Hugo also tries to help her crazy parents. Her father (Malcom Mcdowell) is a recovering junkie who shoots up drugs in a puppet. He calls the drug "Ring-Dang-Doo". Her mother is a compulsive gambler and owes someone money. Hugo is so kind, she even loans her mother money. "Hugo Pool" is a bizarre, colorful tragic comedy. Filled with bright blue and yellow colors throughout, it has a whacked out sense of humor that only Robert Downey Sr. could create. No wonder why his son is so crazy!

This is a little babe of a movie, the kind that comes on at 1 am and you can't turn it off. Very inventive casting. McDowell and Penn are delightful as are Moriority and Milano. Then, you also have Downey, Jr, Dempsey, and Lewis (AND Chuck Barris). A zany cast of "characters"! I was impressed with how handily Milano carried herself and led this cast.

There are a number of memorable acting turns, some more than obvious self-reflective references to addictions (of all types), and a too-pat hand of predictability to move this film beyond a 6 for me. The performances almost rise above the plot restrictions (or lack of restrictions)....an interesting contrast is Robert Altman's "Cookie's Fortune" which I saw two days later which used the characters' idiosyncrasies to move a plot.

So it may not be a blockbuster. But quirky does describe it well. Sean Penn and Roddy McDowall have an interesting relationship in this movie, but it's a good thing that Downey Jr. is related to the writer, as his portrayal of Franz is way over the top. But the surprise is that Danilo Perez provided the soundtrack, and while the original music may not live up to the content of his jazz albums, the inclusion of the Thelonious Monk tunes in the soundtrack is an incredible treat!