Jay Raskin
I'm generally not a fan of Robert Downey Senior's movies. His characters tend to be cartoons and his episodic style means that we seem to be watching a series of "Saturday Night" comedy sketches. "Hugo Pool" has enough great actors in it that all the usual faults are turned into virtues. It also has a sweetness and heart that I haven't seen in any other Downey film.The film is dedicated to Downey's wife and co-writer Laura Ernst. She died of the same terrible disease that the character played by Patrick Dempsey has. It is amazing how Downey shows the disease, but never lets us get sentimental over it or be afraid of it. It is just one more comic element in the film. I hope Laura coped with it as well as Patrick Dempsey's character does.The stand out performance here is by Malcolm McDowell. His portrayal of an old drug addict trying to kick the "Ding, Dang, Du" is charming and funny and sad all at once. The only unfortunate thing is that he's only on screen for about 20 minutes.I think the harsher criticisms of this film are by people who expected a more realistic, integrated film. If you willing to give Downey his quirky style, this film is sweet and delightful.
biznest
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.
Americas Sweetheart
I happened to love 'Hugo Pool'. Alot of people that I have talked to did not, I think this is because there wasn't a real 'plot' to the film.I thought it was great how they developed the characters so much, they were all so different to each other and each bought a special quality to the shaping of the film. Milano and Dempsy were fantastic, a great performance by both. Downey is funny at times (the first time we meet him). However, he gets tiresome at times to watch. It's all about the characters in this film and with a great cast (Milano, Dempsy, McDowell, Penn, Downey) this film fails to disappoint. At first it looks a little iffy but I guarentee you, stick around and you will definitely NOT be disappointed by the outcome. I would of liked to see scenes with Milano's character and Sean Penn. This is the only disappointing part. I thought they would of had great chemistry on screen together. A MUST see for anyone who loves to get attached to characters and loves to learn more about different kinds of life.
Tito-8
Parts of this film were absolutely great, and that makes it all the more difficult to accept the fact that the movie as a whole wasn't very good. The best parts of the movie involve the relationship between Milano and Dempsey. Both give wonderful performances, and the story should have focused entirely on these two characters. Unfortunately, much of the screen time is occupied by characters who aren't the least bit entertaining. In particular, the McDowell-Penn scenes, and every single second with Downey are just plain bad. Quite simply, when this film tries to be more serious, or even just somewhat realistic, it's very good. But more often than not, it opts for stupidity and is generally pointless.
AD
