Following its theatrical release, Chris Pine's directorial debut has also arrived on domestic streaming services — Okko and Ivi. Why Pine should stick to acting — in our review.

At the center of the film 'Poolman' is city activist Darren (Chris Pine), who has gained a reputation as the town's crazy person due to his antics at hearings and his lifestyle. Every day he writes letters to the famous human rights activist Erin Brockovich, meditates for long periods, and visits a psychoanalyst, hoping to interpret his dreams. One day, Brian is approached for help by the new assistant of his longtime adversary from the city council (DeWanda Wise), who suggests they expose him together.

'Poolman' is in some sense a unique film, because there is nothing in it that could grab and engage the viewer. The character portrayed on screen by Pine and co-created by him with Ian Gotler is a shameless copy of several famous movie heroes — from The Dude in 'The Big Lebowski' to Moon Dog in 'The Beach Bum'. Stylistically, the film resembles 'The Lost City of Z' with Charlie Hunnam, as it pretends to be an old-fashioned noir set in sunny LA, but is inferior in content, especially in the detective component.

Brian, who takes on the role of a private detective, again proves to be a blatant loser, constantly losing the trail and drawing wrong conclusions. In the end, the viewer spends a hundred minutes watching the almost meaningless wanderings of an overgrown infantile who fancies himself the hero of Roman Polanski's 'Chinatown'.

Is it interesting to watch? Definitely 'no'! The corruption conspiracy of local officials and the construction oligarchy exists somewhere on the sidelines of the story, while the runtime is wasted on mostly unnecessary scenes. Perhaps the only thing that somewhat livens up this rather tedious affair is the supporting cast of characters played by Danny DeVito, Annette Bening, and John Ortiz. It can't be said that they steal scenes with their appearances, but most of the truly funny moments are thanks to their characters.

'Poolman' is a very weak work that holds absolutely no value — neither as a noir, nor as a detective story, nor as a comedy, since it fails on all fronts. As a rule, actors who move into directing try to make a name for themselves. The debut film of the 'Star Trek' and 'Wonder Woman' star looks extremely shoddy and immature. And it's unlikely that anyone who watches it will feel it's a deeply personal project. In that case, it's unclear why Pine even needed to make this unnecessary imitation. It certainly won't enhance his filmography.

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