66 - Pool Party

    I've been watching a bunch of '80s teen comedies.  I've been leaning toward the sleazy end of the spectrum, but I also have taken in some cleaner fare as well.  Because of my interest in this genre, Netflix suggested that I watch Pool Party, a 2007 romp that looked like it would be my sort of thing.  Even if Netflix offered a prediction of 1.3 as my most likely rating.  Even if it holds a 2.5 on IMDB.
    This was quite possibly, the worst movie I've ever seen.

    I loved The Room.  I've seen that about five times.  I've watched Birdemic.  That one wasn't as charming as The Room, but I still enjoyed it.  I often enjoy bad movies more.  I'm impressed with the work that was accomplished with a limited budget.  The one thing that is not improved by a massive budget is the script.

    Pool Party's protagonist is a spineless guy, who seems to with in some law office.  He's failed the bar exam twice, and is scheduled to take it again soon.  His boss, an absurdly sleazy character, makes our hero house-sit for a week.  In that time, he's supposed to study, feed the dog, and make sure that no one holds any parties, and no one goes in the pool.
    And you can feel the wacky coming on.

    Our hero goes through a bunch of bizarre sequences, dealing with the daughter of his boss, who is trying to seduce him, and the son of his boss, who is trying to hold a pool party.  This is set against some strange homoerotic overtones.  I'm not really sure what the point was.
    There's a clown wearing a gorilla suit, under the name "Bingo, The Monkey Clown."  There are plenty of girls in bikinis.  There's an uncharacteristically aggressive tiny dog.  There's a flashy sports car, with a girl in a bikini posing in it.

    I'm not making it clear.  This movie is so incredibly bad, no one should have worked on it.  Every effort at humor in this production is desperately forced.  No one has the appropriate comedic timing.  There is a "heart" to the story, dealing with the hero trying to reconcile with his estranged girlfriend, but it comes across as a waste of time.  Every single thing in this movie is trying so hard to be wacky that I came out of this movie hating everything.
    I cracked a smile once during the movie, it was during a scene where someone has lost their towel, and calls out for it, "towelie!"

    This movie wasn't offensive on some moral or ethical level.  It was technically acceptable, but just barely on the cusp of being acceptable.  There were sound issues, editing issues, and picture issues as well.  None of these were so bad that they rendered the movie unwatchable.  But the movie would have been better off if it were technically worse.  I might have felt more forgiving about it.