IMDb RATING
5.0/10
2.2K
YOUR RATING
An LA pool cleaner/Alyssa Milano falls in love with a young man with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.An LA pool cleaner/Alyssa Milano falls in love with a young man with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.An LA pool cleaner/Alyssa Milano falls in love with a young man with ALS/Lou Gehrig's Disease.
- Director
- Writers
- Stars
- Awards
- 1 nomination total
Brendan Dawson
- Man with Truck
- (as Brendan B. Dawson)
Lora Gómez Eastwood
- Merengue Dancer
- (as Lora Gomez Eastwood)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Featured reviews
There are a number of memorable acting turns, some more than obvious self-reflective references to addictions (of all types), and a too-pat hand of predictability to move this film beyond a 6 for me. The performances almost rise above the plot restrictions (or lack of restrictions)....an interesting contrast is Robert Altman's "Cookie's Fortune" which I saw two days later which used the characters' idiosyncrasies to move a plot.
Alyssa Milano plays "Hugo" an overworked pool cleaning gal, who needs to clean 44 pools in one day. That is the only normal part of this movie. The rest of it has such poor casting choices and plot lines that is is painful to watch.
Along the way she picks up her father, Malcolm McDowell, who is doing the worst Jimmy Durante impression I have ever heard, and who is trying to kick his heroin habit by shooting the heroin into a puppet that he carries around. Retarded.
Jimmy Durante, er, Malcolm, then runs into a gay hitchhiker with blue shoes, played by Sean Penn. How they talked Sean Penn into this role is beyond me. He appears to be trying to be mysterious, but comes across as a whiney gay 12-year-old.
She sends her dad (and the hitchhiker) on a mission to get some water for one of her clients, a bug-eyed jabbering Richard Lewis, who is supposedly a mafioso, but comes off as threatening as a wet paper bag.
She then picks up her mother, a gambling addict. She in turn shanghais one of Hugo's clients, a man with als (Lou Gherig's Disease) and starts carrying him around in the back of a pickup truck (wheelchair and all) so he can be her gambling good luck charm. Ridiculous.
Along the way, they run into Robert Downey Jr as a wacked out film director, but Robert puts on this outrageous fakey French accent and so he comes across like a bad Inspector Clouseau. Obnoxious.
They finally meet up with Hugo's Mom's bookie, played by Chuck "Chuckie-baby" Barris from the old GONG SHOW, who is more interested in a romp in the hay than money. Strange.
The ending is more like a documentary about ALS than a comedy, and has the totally predictable typical heart wrenching ending. That didn't even get any sympathy points from me. Lame.
The only redeming virtue would have been seeing Alyssa in the buff, and that didn't even happen. What was that director thinking? Weak.
My assessment: 2 of 10 Good only for hard-core Alyssa fans.
Along the way she picks up her father, Malcolm McDowell, who is doing the worst Jimmy Durante impression I have ever heard, and who is trying to kick his heroin habit by shooting the heroin into a puppet that he carries around. Retarded.
Jimmy Durante, er, Malcolm, then runs into a gay hitchhiker with blue shoes, played by Sean Penn. How they talked Sean Penn into this role is beyond me. He appears to be trying to be mysterious, but comes across as a whiney gay 12-year-old.
She sends her dad (and the hitchhiker) on a mission to get some water for one of her clients, a bug-eyed jabbering Richard Lewis, who is supposedly a mafioso, but comes off as threatening as a wet paper bag.
She then picks up her mother, a gambling addict. She in turn shanghais one of Hugo's clients, a man with als (Lou Gherig's Disease) and starts carrying him around in the back of a pickup truck (wheelchair and all) so he can be her gambling good luck charm. Ridiculous.
Along the way, they run into Robert Downey Jr as a wacked out film director, but Robert puts on this outrageous fakey French accent and so he comes across like a bad Inspector Clouseau. Obnoxious.
They finally meet up with Hugo's Mom's bookie, played by Chuck "Chuckie-baby" Barris from the old GONG SHOW, who is more interested in a romp in the hay than money. Strange.
The ending is more like a documentary about ALS than a comedy, and has the totally predictable typical heart wrenching ending. That didn't even get any sympathy points from me. Lame.
The only redeming virtue would have been seeing Alyssa in the buff, and that didn't even happen. What was that director thinking? Weak.
My assessment: 2 of 10 Good only for hard-core Alyssa fans.
So it may not be a blockbuster. But quirky does describe it well. Sean Penn and Roddy McDowall have an interesting relationship in this movie, but it's a good thing that Downey Jr. is related to the writer, as his portrayal of Franz is way over the top. But the surprise is that Danilo Perez provided the soundtrack, and while the original music may not live up to the content of his jazz albums, the inclusion of the Thelonious Monk tunes in the soundtrack is an incredible treat!
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.
I rented this movie because I saw everything else at the movie store 30 times each. This was a special treat for me. Alyssa Milano is a wonderful young actress. She's so sweet and she's tough at the same time. I really loved her character. I also liked the love story with her and Partick Dempsey. Malcolm MacDowel was hilarious. I like his relationship with Sean Penn. They were funny together. I loved that thing with the shoes. Cathy Moriarty was great as the gambling mother of Alyssa Milano. I enjoyed this movie a lot. I think very highly of it.
Did you know
- TriviaMalcolm McDowell replaced Alan Arkin.
- GoofsAfter Hugo changes from her pants into her shorts (right before crying in the truck) she is seen cleaning her first pool wearing pants again. After that she is back in her shorts.
- Quotes
Strange Hitchhiker: If words could speak, I'd still would have nothing to say.
- ConnectionsFeatured in Sr. (2022)
- How long is Hugo Pool?Powered by Alexa
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $13,330
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $6,305
- Dec 14, 1997
- Gross worldwide
- $13,330
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