Cooktopi The acting in this movie is really good.

Guillelmina The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Predrag This is follow up to "Harper" and Paul Newman reprises his role as a private detective loosely based on Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer. The plot is based around Harper being a few years older but basically the same style PI you came to like in Harper. He is smart and has a drive to finish a case; even if he ends up in trouble. You get a mix of Joanne Woodward, Melanie Griffith (as a teen), Tony Franciosa (doing a very good job acting) and a stellar supporting cast. There are a lot of twists and turns, a lot of dialog, one shootout - it's Newman as Harper! Set in pre-Katrina New Orleans, "The Drowning Pool" is a rich stew of intrigue, great cast performances and classic MacDonald twists and turns within a dangerously dysfunctional family. Paul Newman completely inhabits Lew Harper's character, the settings are alternately grand and deliciously seedy, and the cinematography is excellent. A very young Melany Griffith place the infant terrible' in this film, not bad for a kid breaking into the movie game. But the chief action focuses on Newman and he does not disappoint. There's also some interesting plot points involving oil off the coast, and the resulting corruption of the police as money was shovelled around to secure drilling rights.Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

AaronCapenBanner Stuart Rosenberg directed this underrated sequel to "Harper", set nine years later that sees Paul Newman return as private detective Lew Harper, this time called by an old girlfriend named Iris(Joanne Woodward) to come to her Louisiana home to investigate a blackmailing scheme involving her daughter(played by Melanie Griffith) who has something of a reputation with the local men that someone wants to exploit for their benefit. Harper discovers that the case is more complicated than that, as it involves shady dealings of a wealthy oil tycoon(played by Murray Hamilton) and his wife(played by Gail Strickland) who wants more land for exploration. Can Harper get to the bottom of this case before being driven off by the local sheriff(played by Anthony Franciosa)? Though not as stylish as "Harper", this still features good acting and an interesting story, with Newman as good as ever. There was no third film in this series, which is a shame.

Robert J. Maxwell Paul Newman is the same private detective he played in "Harper" but about the only connection between the two films is his mostly offhand attitude towards events. "The Drowning Pool" is set in New Orleans and doesn't have a dozen recognizable character actors in supporting roles. It's more focused, less ambiguous, and doesn't end with a great big question mark. Newman digs up all the answers and leaves the resolution in the hands of the locals. Of course he gets slugged a few times and almost drowned but he does some slugging of his own.It's a complex mystery story and rather routine. The director was Stuart Rosenberg, who gave us a genuine handful in "Cool Hand Luke" but here is saddled with a pedestrian script. A lot of sentiment is lavished on the apparent suicide of Joanne Woodward, a local belle whom we've hardly gotten to know. The ultimate killer is a flighty young girl who hardly seems capable of such intrigue.Yet the film has its moments. There is, for instance, Paul Newman's first abduction by the local oil baron, Murray Hamilton. In a scene we're all familiar with, three or four over-sized goons approach Newman and order him into their car. Newman backs away with a determined expression and says, "Look, I think it's only fair to warn you fellas that my hands are registered in California as lethal weapons." One of the fellas opens his jacket to reveal an automatic tucked into his belt. Newman laughs it off with a joke about only being a brown belt. But the switch from defiance to compliance is done with a panache that only Newman could deliver. Burt Reynolds would have tried but not succeeded. Neither Sylvester Stallone nor Clint Eastwood would have bothered trying.Then, later, there is a short exchange between Newman and Murray Hamilton, who is sitting on a couch complaining that his bad stomach won't let him eat the shrimp étouffé that he himself has prepared. Hamilton, who was a great snooker player against Newman in "The Hustler," asks with a vast phony smile just what it is that Newman wants. "I want a big chunk of those oil fields," Newman replies. A moment passes while Hamilton continues to smile off into empty space, before replying, "You know, in addition to this bad stomach of mine, I think Nature has left me a little hard of hearing." I know it's not funny in print but it is on screen.Final moment: Newman and the nicely assembled Gail Strickland are in their underwear gasping for the bit of air remaining in a space at the top of a hydrotherapy room in an abandoned mental hospital. (Don't ask.) Gail Strickland has always reminded me of Gayle Hunnicut, another Southern beauty, so much so that I've come to believe they're one and the same person. No? Then let me ask: Has anyone ever seen them in the same room at the same time? I thought not. Q.E.D.

jimmydavis-650-769174 'The Drowning Pool'is an overlooked gem in my opinion, however a gem with many flaws,as pointed out in other reviews on this site. The plot, parts of the script, much of the shooting and location are wonderful...but the direction and editing in particular were just lazy and thoughtless! Apparently Newman and the director were buddies, well maybe that's where the problem lay...I think this would be an ideal film to remake and to this time produce the masterpiece that could have been. Keep the wise cracking private eye, the uneasy relationship between grandmother, mother and daughter, the sadistic oil man, the creepy Gothic overtones and mix it up with the right actors and you've got dynamite. Coen brothers required?