Delayed Reaction: The Dead Pool

What I Guessed It Was About: It's got Dirty Harry in it. The title suggests a pool. So, I'm assuming that Harry is on vacation and stumbles upon a lot of dead people in a pool. He then spends the rest of the movie tracking the murderers down, shooting first, asking questions never.

How I Came Into It: I made sure to see Dirty Harry before watching this and determined that little would be lost by skipping ahead. It's not a series with a strong mythology that is built up. Harry's a cop. He's old fashioned. He's Clint Eastwood. You get the idea.

Why I Saw It: (Club 50) It's no surprise that Eastwood is good in this role. It's kind of built for him. This is a simple enough movie. One of those movies that plays like an extra long episode of a police procedural series. It was cool to see a young Liam Nesson, Patricia Clarkson, and Jim Carrey (his scene lip synching "Welcome to the Jungle" was initially a great WTF moment). I also liked that the movie does recognize Harry's local celebrity profile at this point by making him part of the case. It's the kind of thing that other movies (Die Hard, Lethal Weapon) way too conveniently avoid.

Why I Wish I Hadn't: Are you sure this movie wasn't made in the 70s? It's got hints of modernism to it, but if you told me it was made in 1976 and held for release until 1988, I'd believe you (except for some actor ages and musical cues). That's isn't a criticism as much as a distraction. I wasn't particularly interested in the case it's trying to solve either. The antagonist wasn't interesting or prominent enough.

Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend