francisco-personal1

I was born in 1964. I'm writing this on January 11, 2025. I'm 60. I've seen every slight variation in action films for over five decades. They tend to repeat many of the same elements, and that's on a good day. Very often, action films are carbon copies made on the Hollywood mass-production line.

"Carry-On" is an interesting hybrid. On the one hand, it's very formulaic. It's a predictable action thriller. On the other hand, there are two elements that made it stand out for me. The first, was Jason Bateman. As a performer, he's aged like fine wine. He anchored the believability of the story in the understated way he approaches all roles. The second, is the way the action sequences were shot. Both of these elements made the film fun for me to watch.

I doubt this will win any awards, but it was the best kind of mindless entertainment, and I mean that as a compliment.

I understand why people are panning this film. It's extremely off the beaten path. Hollywood does replication and repetitiveness very well. There are so few new ideas. That's why we see endless remakes of comic films and outer space franchises. How man Bond films are there? By the way, this is nothing new. The earliest films in America were inspired, in part or in whole, by other, earlier works.

As film viewers, we've become accustomed to this paradigm. So much so, as evidenced in other user reviews, when we don't get it, we get upset. "Poolman" is an odd film. I don't think anyone would dispute that. But it's odd on purpose. Pine was clearly sending up old tropes, like the ones the Sam Spade films, and "Chinatown". This film is not typical Hollywood fodder. I enjoyed the breath of fresh air and a tongue firmly planted in cheek. :-D.

I grew up around Italians. In 1971, my mother remarried and we moved to Elmhurst, Queens, not far from where Ray Romano grew up. When I was 9 (in 1973), I moved to Long Island, one town over from where Ray placed his TV family. We were in the last house on a dead end street. Next door to us was an Italian family. One of the four children was my age, so we went to school together. I remember the first time they invited us to Sunday dinner and we went at 3:00, so I love that scene. Much later on in life, I married an Italian woman. I've known every character in this film and heard many of the conversations depicted in this film. For a directorial debut, Romano hits a grand slam home run. So much attention to detail. Such a profound understanding of the human condition. Nothing seemed forced and nothing seemed fake. What a gem of a film. Well done to all.