The Drowning Pool (1975)

Starring: Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Melanie Griffith, and Scorpio from Dirty Harry
Grade: A

The Drowning Pool thrives on a lot of subtle humor compared to its predecessor. The scene in the trailer between Harper and Gretchen when he questions her about the account book’s whereabouts is one of these chuckle-worthy examples. Harper asking for a beer and her telling him to help himself, so he goes to the fridge to find nothing inside of it and sarcastically saying, “Thanks” was brilliant stuff.

Summary

Los Angeles-based private investigator Lew Harper (Newman) comes to Louisiana for his newest case. In the opening, he’s already having car troubles before he drives out of the parking lot of the airport.

Sometime after, Harper waits in a store and Iris Devereaux (Woodward) appears almost in disguise and whispers to him as they approach each other. Quickly, she takes him into another room when he asks why they are whispering. She’s been married to James Devereaux (Richard Derr) for 17 years, but her and Harper had an affair 6 years ago for a week. She reminisces about it, and Harper wonders why she gave up on them when they were onto something in LA. She passes it off as it being “time to go home”. Harper is curious if he was flown out to Louisiana for sport or business, but she insists it’s strictly business as she has run into some serious trouble. Just then, a man walks into the store and seems to be looking for her, so she quickly turns her back to the guy while having Harper cover for her. She tells Harper that she has a reservation for him at the Town House Motel and gives him her number to give her a call tomorrow. She departs. Later that day, Harper checks into the motel and a teenager girl (Griffith) watches him. After Harper goes out for a swim, he comes back to his motel to clean off. Just then, he hears the girl break into his room and offers to have sex with him. When she refers to Harper by name, he’s freaked out because he has no idea who she is. He turns her down for obvious reasons and tries to force her out the door. Next, she slaps him after he turns her down, so he slaps her back! He apologizes, though admittedly doesn’t mean it, and sends her out the door. Once he gets dressed and everything and goes to his car, Lt. Franks (Richard Jaeckel) immediately arrests Harper and takes him back to the station on charges of child molestation, statutory rape, indecent exposure, resisting arrest, and carrying a concealed weapon. Though he has a permit for his gun, it’s not applicable in Louisiana.

Thankfully, Chief Broussard (Anthony Franciosa) takes over from there and sends Franks out of the room when he’s trying to antagonize Harper with his bullshit charges. Right away, Broussard downplays Franks overzealousness and takes Harper’s handcuffs off as he just wants to question Harper. He asks what private detectives make nowadays. When Harper tells him $150 a day plus expenses, Broussard is taken aback because of how much money it is, though Harper jokingly responds by adding that it’s not if you only work four days a year. Broussard moves it along and brings up how Harper was seen by him undressed with an underage girl in a motel. Once he explains that the girl let herself into his room, Broussard seems to believe him and asks if he’s there for a case. Harper confirms and is asked for who and what for. The second part is confidential, but he does allow Broussard to know that he’s working for Mrs. Devereaux. Broussard asks if it’s Olivia, but Harper corrects him and says “Iris”. Even so, Broussard knows the family, as they have a lot of pull in the area. When he asks Harper how he knows her, he again refuses on the grounds of confidentiality, the ethics of the profession. Next, Broussard says officially that he believes Harper about the teenager (at least for now), but that doesn’t mean he can’t throw him in jail and let him fight it out in court, though this is more of a subtle threat to show off his power. Secondly, he’s keeping Harper’s gun as it violates their local gun policy. Thirdly, he doesn’t want any of Harper’s west coast bullshit, arguing that they aren’t stupid. Before Harper leaves the room, Broussard also notes that if anything bad happens with Iris or her daughter Schuyler, he wants to know about it first because he takes a “strong interest in the welfare of those two”.

From the station, Harper drives to the Devereaux mansion. The butler goes to alert Iris of his arrival, and Harper lets himself in to wait. When he walks through the house, he can see Iris and James arguing outside for a bit through the screen door. Finally, Iris walks in the house after the butler relays the message, and she takes Harper into a private room to show him a letter sent to James that implies Iris and her adultery. Trying to move past the fact that the two read each other’s mail, Harper asks what James does for a living. According to Iris, he writes unproduced plays in-between drinks. The house belonged to his wealthy mother Olivia. Her family have owned four rivages for 175 years.

“The abolition of slavery was a mild agitation for them”.

The two see Olivia outside talking to the workers, and Iris explains that Olivia keeps everyone on allowances like they’re little kids. If she finds that letter, Iris may run into some serious trouble. She can handle James, but she admits Olivia scares her. Harper asks if Iris has cheated on James, and she implies she does as the marriage hasn’t worked for years. When Harper suggests she divorce, she simply responds with, “…And do what?”. Well, it’s hard to argue that. Anyway, she thinks all of this came from the family’s ex-chauffeur Pat Reavis (Andy Robinson), a man Iris fired a few days ago. The letter came in the mail the next morning following his firing. She insists she did not have an affair with Reavis though. With this, Harper flat-out asks what she wants him to do about it. Well, she wants Harper to get Reavis to stop sending the letters. This isn’t necessarily his forte as a private detective, but he says he’ll try. She doesn’t know where he lives though. All she can give him is that Reavis used to work for Kilbourne Oil, so it’s possible he went back there. Exiting the house and getting to the front porch, Iris introduces Harper to her daughter Schuyler, the same teenager that got him arrested earlier. They both know exactly who the other is, but they act like they don’t know each other with Harper saying he’s an exterminator, confusing Iris momentarily. Schuyler has a smile on her face the whole time. He quickly changes the subject and suggests he start looking in the servants’ quarters for clues and such, and Iris points him in the direction of where Reavis would stay over the garage when he was working as the chauffer. Schuyler offers to help Harper, but he wisely turns her down. After investigating the garage and finding some things, he sees Schuyler spying on him from the bushes once he’s outside. He waves her over and asks if she can introduce him to Olivia.

Before she does, she admits she overheard Iris making the reservation at the motel, which is how she knew where he was at. She knows he’s not an exterminator but inquires further about what he’s all about. He lies again and says he’s in insurance. Then, he asks what Reavis was like to get information. She calls him fun but a psycho and is all smiles when speaking of his name. She then brings him over to Olivia in the guise of him being an exterminator. The rather unpleasant Olivia sends Schuyler off to get her a glass of wine. Utilizing a New Orleans accent, Harper enters the bird enclosure Olivia is in. After spouting off how one of her parrots has a protein deficiency, he starts to talk about how he was hired by Iris as a New Orleans representative, but he’s cut off by Olivia saying her answer to Mr. Kilbourne is “No” and will remain so for the rest of her life. Harper agrees to relay the message but when he asks where he can find him, she passes this all off as one of Kilbourne’s charades. Harper explains that he doesn’t work for Kilbourne, nor does he know him, but she goes on about how she detests oil company “Yes men”. Again, he tries to explain that this isn’t a job, but she continues about how his oil people have destroyed their town, how she wants him to leave her property, and that J. Hugh Kilbourne (Murray Hamilton) can go to Hell. Harper takes the hint and goes back to talk to Iris, admitting she was right about Olivia, a “functioning ballbreaker”. As the two talk by the pool and he says he has enough information to get started, they see James’s friend Peter walking on the balcony of the mansion. She explains Peter helps with James’s “creative endeavors”. Harper and Iris then talk about their affair for a moment, and the sexual tension between them is still there, as they both admit that it’s tough seeing the other. To ruin the moment, Olivia drives her little golf cart in and yells at Iris for not asking for permission to wear her gardening hat.

Of course, this infuriates Iris who says she wants to “kill that bitch”.

Harper drives off, and he sees Schuyler watch him from behind a tree. Upon exiting, he sees a brown car parked on the other side of the road, and it’s later revealed to be Reavis’s. Harper gets back to the motel. When he gets outside of his car, Candy (Paul Koslo) stops him and asks him to take a ride. Harper knows what’s up and tries to turn away, but he runs into Candy’s henchman. He lies and tries to say that his hands are registered as lethal weapons in the state of California, so Candy’s henchman shows him his gun. Harper relents and goes in the car. He’s taken by boat to meet J. Hugh Kilbourne on his little compound. There, he raises a bunch of animals, especially pitbulls as he hosts illegal dog fights that are to the death, which he has no problem in admitting is highly illegal. Kilbourne greets Harper directly and explains all of this to him, how he was called “The Crab” in high school because of how he likes to move sideways, and how he’s a “slant driller” in the oil business compared to the others that drill straight down. Straight-faced, Harper asks if he’s “slant drilling” him, as he knows Kilbourne is a shady person. Kilbourne calls him perceptive and then brings up how the tidelands he came in on are oil-rich and he owns most of them. The biggest stretch of it he doesn’t own however, and this belongs to Olivia, with Harper guessing this part correctly. Kilbourne says $100 million worth of black gold is underneath this land, and Olivia has the audacity to turn it into a sanctuary for birds. Poking the bear, Harper refers to it as “sweet”. Kilbourne goes on about how energy sources are hard to come by and they have to think about America’s future, but Harper continues to piss him off by asking if he came to this conclusion by patriotism or just greed. Admitting to a little bit of both “like most men of wealth”, Kilbourne walks Harper away from the others for a little more privacy just as the preliminaries of the dogfighting begins.

Kilbourne wants Harper to work for him. He sees that three people could be involved to the title of Olivia’s land. For starters, he can ruin James because he has come across some pictures that implicate James as being gay. For Iris, he knows she has a tendency to cheat, and he subtly implies that Harper could seduce her, not knowing about their previous history. Harper points out that this leaves Olivia, but Kilbourne’s non-response implies something devious. Harper doesn’t agree or disagree to anything and asks to leave, so Kilbourne has Candy drive him back. Kilbourne asks what Harper thinks about his proposal, and Harper says he will take it under consideration and will let him know. That night, Harper goes to a bar that is practically empty, as it doesn’t get going until 9PM. He strikes up a conversation with the bartender and asks if he knows Reavis while adding that he’s a friend of his. The bartender tells him that Reavis has been working the rigs all day, and he comes in later when things pick up. Harper lies and says that’s what Reavis told him. When the bartender talks about Reavis’s girl, Harper confirms that he talked to Reavis about her but couldn’t remember her name, so Reavis tells him it’s Gretchen (Linda Haynes). Not long after, Lt. Franks walks in to detain Harper for no reason. He’s got nothing on him, so Harper walks to the bathroom as Franks yells at him. Like a maniac, Franks fires his gun directly at the wall Harper goes behind. Following this, Franks drives Harper to Broussard back at the Devereaux mansion. After Broussard sends Franks away to find the fingerprint guy, he takes Harper to the body. Olivia has been murdered. Her head was crushed by a rake, and she was pushed in. Broussard implies Harper is a suspect when he asks if there are any, but Harper shuts this down right away. Broussard asks him if he knows Reavis, and he explains how he was trying to track him down until Franks fucked it all up.

Broussard and company think Reavis is running. He follows this up by wanting to know what Harper’s interest in Reavis is. Harper wants to talk to Iris first as it’s his client, but Broussard wants to know because his name could be involved in a homicide. He’s suspected as the guy because they know he was fired, his wallet was found on the lawn between the crime scene and the house, and he disappeared. Harper calls it convenient, but Broussard doesn’t think so. Regardless, Harper wants to talk to Iris first, so he lets him but warns him not to drive off. Harper goes inside to talk to Iris who is emotional but somewhat happy that Olivia is dead. He wants to know if he should tell the cops about Reavis and the letter since they are asking and is giving Iris the option to let him or have him walk around it. She doesn’t care at the moment and just wants him to “make it like it was six years ago”. She grabs him, and they kiss. Later, Harper goes back to the bar and talks to some girl there about how he loves girls with names starting with “G”. After explaining to the girl that Jennifer doesn’t count, she suggests Gretchen and points her out. Using his fake New Orleans accent, he goes with Gretchen back to her trailer and acts as if he’s friends with Reavis. She downplays her relationship with Reavis but admits he does turn her on. She notes that he’s never mentioned Harper, so he acts as if works on the rig and Reavis was going to introduce them. He also adds that he owes Reavis some money, though Gretchen is sure Reavis will find him if that’s the case. They get close to having sex, but Harper finds ways to avoid it by saying he needs foreplay and a refill on his drink. Once she goes to the kitchen, Harper inquires further about Reavis, as he wants to know when the last time she saw him. It hasn’t been since last weekend, and she thinks Reavis is at his place in New Orleans.

She gets back on the bed as Harper asks more about the location of Reavis’s place. She doesn’t suspect a thing and continues to give him general directions. When she tries to take her shirt off, Harper stops her and his accent, and thanks her before leaving. Harper drives to New Orleans and sneaks into Reavis’s place at the Cornstalk Hotel. Immediately, he gets a phone call and assumes Reavis’s identity when the receptionist asks if he rang earlier. With his use of one-word responses and mumbling, he’s able to get away with it. The woman lets him know that she has his laundry there for weeks and for him to pick it up and how his sister Elaine called three days ago. After he hangs up and observes the mirrored ceiling, a picture Reavis took with a woman, and Elaine’s business card, he turns off the light. Suddenly, the light turns back on, and two thugs are there asking him what he’s doing there before the main guy hits Harper after he acts like he’s just a regular burglar. They tie up his hands and throw him in the back of the car with Mavis (Gail Strickland). The henchman lets Mavis know that Reavis wasn’t there, and neither was his account book. It was just Harper. She knows he’s from Los Angeles and asks if he found anything like an account book in Reavis’s place. Still acting like he’s a burglar, he denies this and just talks about how he only takes appliances, watches, jewelry, and things like that. After showcasing her gaudy ring and he has to act like he cares about it, she says it’s a fake and he acts surprised. As the car drives, she flirts with Harper while wanting him to forget about what has happened. She kisses him, cuts the ties off his hands, and kicks him out of the moving vehicle, leaving him to wonder what in the hell is going on.

Knowing Harper, he is going to find out exactly that.

My Thoughts:

Nine years after Harper, and months after the failed Archer television series that no one talks about, Paul Newman returned to the role of private investigator Lew Harper in The Drowning Pool, the massively underrated sequel to its heralded predecessor. Admittedly, it doesn’t have the staying power or the legacy of the first movie, but The Drowning Pool is a highly entertaining continuation of the series, and the protagonist audiences fell in love with previously. Though the characters aren’t as developed compared to the first film and the mystery is nowhere near as complex, which may or may not be a good thing depending on who you ask, this sequel is more concise, better-paced, arguably more amusing, and just as thrilling. Shifting to Louisiana to set itself apart completely as almost a standalone adventure, Paul Newman shines even brighter in his second go-around as one of his most underappreciated characters.

For starters, I can’t praise Newman enough as Lew Harper. Once again, he carries this thriller on his back with his natural charisma, subtle confidence, playful demeanor, humor, and all-around coolness. Aging the character appropriately to match Newman’s signature grayed look in his later years, and because this sequel came out many years after the original film, our protagonist is a little bit different this time around. Despite chewing less gum and showing off new sunglasses more often than not, Harper is still all smiles and wisecracks when the situation calls for it. Nevertheless, this older Harper is more in control than ever before. At this stage in his life and career, he’s someone who has seen it all and acts accordingly. Sure, he still messes around a lot like when he’s at the empty bar waiting for Pat Reavis and yells, “Drinks for everybody” knowing there isn’t anyone there, but Harper knows he was flown out to Louisiana for a reason. This case is one that is more personal, as it involves former flame Iris. For fans of the first movie, let it be known that he clearly has gotten over Susan, as he shows more respect to Iris for their one-week affair than he ever did during his previous marriage. Then again, this could be just a sign of maturity in Harper, as we do see examples of this throughout. Regardless, the two had their one-week fling six years prior, but there are still sparks between them, and neither denies it. Now, Iris is in an unwinnable position, with no one on her side including her own daughter Schuyler, which is one awful name. The only person Iris can turn to is Harper, despite zero contact between them since their passionate affair. Though she makes the case seem rather simple at first based off the initial details, Harper knows there is more to it. He wouldn’t have been flown out and sworn to such secrecy otherwise. After establishing a lot of the supporting players, he tells Iris he has enough to get started. This is the key. We are all made well aware there is more to this case with this line alone.

Everyone has more of a story to tell, and the low-key Harper can see that right off the bat. Through Newman’s smooth performance, he scans the room, the people, and everyone else in every situation he comes across like the veteran private detective he is. He never reveals his cards until he knows he’s safe, and this confidence and strength in the face of intimidation is felt mightily in this sequel, solidifying Lew Harper’s position as one of cinema’s greatest detectives. We see how good Harper has become after all these years in his first meeting with Kilbourne on his little dogfighting compound. Knowing he’s walking into serious danger because of these attack dogs, Kilbourne’s henchmen, and the fact that these rich folk in Louisiana tend to get away with a lot of murder, Harper is still cool, calm, and collected. Walking around as the vicious dogs bark at him and Kilbourne explains how they are in training, Harper deadpans “That one’s ready” before going over to speak to the obviously suspicious oil tycoon. On the trip over there, Harper has already connected the dots on Kilbourne’s contentious relationship with Olivia and the Devereaux family based off context clues, shocking Kilbourne with his astute observations to the point where he does further research on Harper’s background by the time they have their second meeting at his boat. Despite Kilbourne’s power in the region and in that very moment however, Harper plays the moment as sly as can be. Refusing to be intimidated by the man, he hurls a couple of quick-witted responses at him to get a rise. Kilbourne probably thought it would be easy to scare the private eye because of how he reacted to Candy and the other henchman threatening him with a gun to come with, but when you see how Harper walks in to Kilbourne’s domain by his lonesome, it’s as if he planned for it to happen to finally come face to face with the biggest threat of the case, just to get an idea of who he is and what he’s up against.

Then, when the two talk, Harper shows why he can’t be intimidated in an almost death-wish type of way, prompting Kilbourne to pivot and try to get him on his team instead. It’s a sequence symbolic of a poker game, and Harper gets enough information out of Kilbourne without revealing how much he knows while making it seem like he could be bought for the right price. This way, it gets Kilbourne off his back momentarily, so he can regroup and gather more information against him. It’s a genius scene, and Newman is excellent in his subdued approach to facing villainy. Their follow-up poker-faced dialogue sequence comes in the aforementioned second meeting between them. In a scene that makes you want to smile from ear-to-ear because of how much of a badass Harper is, right after being introduced to Mavis before stating that he “can’t” say that he’s met her prior which he means literally (unbeknownst to Kilbourne), Kilbourne threatens Harper to do what he says because he holds “all the aces”. Without missing a beat and cracking a slight smile before sipping on the scotch Kilbourne gave him, Harper doesn’t even flinch before saying he’s not so sure about that because he knows Kilbourne is missing the account book. Kilbourne didn’t even know Harper knew about its existence, and the viewer has already seen Harper finding it in Gretchen’s possession in a scene earlier on, so we know he’s not lying. He’s got Kilbourne by the balls, and he knows it. He doesn’t get cocky with Kilbourne either. He just tells him that as long as he stays alive and healthy, the account book will stay tucked away and out of sight. Panicking, Kilbourne throws out money offers left and right, but Harper doesn’t entertain it for a second before departing with a “Nice talking to you J. Hugh”. Though it leads to Kilbourne panic-capturing Harper in the fantastic climax at the asylum (the best sequence of the film), it’s such an awesome, character-defining moment for this version of our protagonist.

All of these moments compile together in a great way to further the character development of Harper and to show how he has learned from 1966’s Harper. Now, he is a lot more untrustworthy of the situations and people he comes across, following his gut more often than not. Right away in the motel scene, he doesn’t play around. Immediately, he gets Schuyler out of his room because he knows the trouble he can get into. Unfortunately, it still leads to him being arrested and accused of a number of crimes he didn’t commit with the teenager. It’s a shock to the system for Harper to establish the operation he is facing in Louisiana law enforcement officials and the types of people he will come across, as it already reeks of corruption from their first meeting. The experienced Harper observes and reacts to Franks and Broussard differently. He messes with Franks a little bit but doesn’t say enough to escalate the situation because he can see Franks has the potential in making things worse. When Broussard enters the room, it doesn’t take much for Harper to know he’s Franks’s superior and is smart enough to know that they don’t have anything on Harper, so this is more smoke and mirrors to find out the details of why he is in town. This is where Harper plays around a bit to imply to Broussard he’s still going to go about his business like when he refuses to tell him how he knows Iris and jokingly asks, “You feel left out?”. An irate Broussard who knows more than he leads on implies threats and asks if Harper is sensing where he’s going, only for Harper to smile and respond by saying, “I’m picking up signs”. It’s a great way to define the battle lines, with Harper essentially facing off against the entire state and refusing to be compromised because he was hired by someone close to him for help. This event is enough for our hero to only be intrigued further on how large this whole thing is about to be. It’s just like when Schuyler asks him if they have a problem.

“That’s what I’m here to find out”.

A signature of Lew Harper is his reactions in the face of authority. Though his interactions with the Sheriff in Harper was better, I did love his back and forth with Broussard and Franks, especially with Franks. His patience is tried with Franks time and time again to the point where the audience wants to beat his ass. Seriously, at one point the stupid son of a bitch fires a gun at Harper’s head in a bar for him walking away from him, knowing there was NO EVIDENCE TO ARREST HIM! As far as I’m concerned, Harper’s Dirty Harry-like interrogation of Franks in his home was the most satisfying scene of the entire film. Some could argue it was out of character for Harper, but I disagree. For the younger Harper, you may have an argument, but this older Harper is out of fucks to give. He narrowly escaped being shot already and his life is becoming more at risk everyday he stays in Louisiana to solve this case. Him playing a version of Russian Roulette with Franks being the only participant is character development for our protagonist to show how dire the situation has become for him, how he can’t take things lightly anymore because it will keep him at a standstill, and it intensifies the gravity of this case and what it could mean for the Devereaux family. The young Harper would’ve put blanks in the gun and laughed things off once he got the information that he needed about Kilbourne’s ties to Pat Reavis, but this Harper fires the first shot away from Franks to showcase to him and the audience that he means business. When Harper clicks twice directly to his face, there is no doubt you will be having the “Oh shit” reaction that Newman intends in this electric scene. The best part is Harper switching from Dirty Harry right back to his regular self before departing and telling Franks “Personally, I think you held up rather well”. Can you imagine what Franks was thinking after being scared shitless and then seeing Harper go right back to being his calm and light-hearted self on the way out the door?

Regardless, Harper finds himself at a crossroads. He’s told to leave the case alone by Broussard and even Iris at one point, but the “hero” factor won’t let him give up. As stated in the review for Harper, he has a responsibility to see this case through and can’t let these stones stay unturned. He’s told directly by Iris, after being unofficially fired by James, that “You have a problem. You have no talent for surrender”. It’s true. His refusal to let go has forced him to become the hero for better or worse, no matter the cost. As Iris continues her downward spiral of misery while asking Harper what he is trying to do to her with his findings implicating her daughter in this whole mess, he draws the line in the sand and tells her directly that he will see this out to the end and people may not like what he will find. Even though he’s run up about $800 in expenses, his suit is ruined and “I’m gonna be sued by that rental car company too, you know?”, Harper is incensed enough to finish this case out of spite and his uncontrollable urge to take his responsibility as a detective seriously.

As previously stated, a lot of the supporting characters are one-dimensional, especially compared to the first film. The bird-obsessed Olivia is a wealthy, cold-hearted bitch, Pat Reavis is basically Andy Robinson doing an extension of Scorpio from Dirty Harry but only if he technically didn’t kill anyone, Broussard is gloriously unhelpful even when he’s playing “good cop” (his closing the case following the aftermath of the shootout scene, when Harper tells him Schuyler and Reavis were fucking, doesn’t even make sense in retrospect because his motivations should bring him in closer to help) and I didn’t give a single fuck about him during the big reveal either, and Kilbourne is a southern villain we have seen plenty of times before. The only thing we learn about Kilbourne, other than him being a rich weirdo with a bunch of people on his payroll who carry out illegal acts for him to increase his already generational wealth, is that he can only eat cereal because he apparently has a “bad stomach”. He tells Harper this while they chat on his boat. As he says this, he’s making a pot of chili or some type of real food, prompting Harper to ask what he does with it. Can you guess what he does? He takes all the time to make it and dumps it overboard for the fish. What? There is no reasoning or resolution for this random detail about Kilbourne. He just states this outrageous fact about himself, and we move on. It’s so strange. Mavis’s flipflopping didn’t make sense either. At first, she’s like this confident sexpot that threatens and flirts with Harper. Then, in the next scene she is in, she’s this scared wife pleading for his help and completely changes her tune. It’s like she’s two different people entirely with no inkling of there being a connection between the two. Following this, she gets a prominent position in the climax out of nowhere. To say the character doesn’t deserve it is an understatement. The aftermath of it was a cool moment, but if she were to play such an important role in the finish (“He’s right. He would’ve gotten away with it”), her being included more in the plot would have made us care a lot more about her.

Additionally, there is some stuff touched on between Schuyler and Iris that is just swept under a rug. During the ending sequence before the big reveal, James talks about the two and says, “They were quite fond of one another you know, touching-” before he’s cut off by Broussard. What the hell was that about? Am I understanding this wrong, or is he implying pedophilia? It doesn’t help that during Harper’s interrogation of Schuyler that he accuses her of wanting her dad “all to herself”, which also sound pedophilic in nature. Maybe I’m misreading these lines, but it’s said in such a way that it implies more deviousness to the overall reveal.

The final moments of The Drowning Pool is Lew Harper at his finest. I can’t commend it enough because of how low-key hilarious it is. From Harper acknowledging the mess he caused by doing his job and simply stating, “Well, I wouldn’t be in your shoes for anything. Good luck” to taking out only the $800 he was owed from Reavis’s envelope and giving the rest to an unsuspecting Gretchen, to the picture-perfect call back to the freeze frame ending of Harper, the movie ends on such a high note for the character that you can’t help but appreciate the effort. Though with this being said, the air was sort of left out of the room after the breathtaking asylum sequence that is also one of my favorite scenes of the decade (the set design and action involved was unforgettable). If the third act was reworked for it to end shortly after that gigantic moment, it would’ve flowed much better. Also, The Drowning Pool is funnier than Harper. From Harper’s response to trying a “coon ass” beer (“A coon ass? Sure”) to his reaction when Gretchen thinks he’s not comfortable with taking off his clothes in front of women to his sarcastic consideration of Reavis’s offer (“Yeah but then we’d have to be friends and go to the same restaurants and nah..”), Paul Newman reminds us at every turn why we have sorely missed Lew Harper.

I didn’t mind the change of scenery from Los Angeles to Louisiana in this sequel either, but with the exception of some music, the bad guys wearing Mardi gras masks in the one scene where Harper almost dies with Pat Reavis, and Reavis’s sister Elaine working for a float company, the culture of the area was underutilized. At most, we could just tell it was really hot.

The Drowning Pool is unfairly hated. It’s not necessarily better than Harper, but it’s very close for a sequel. Swapping out unnecessary complexities and confusing plot developments (that aren’t as important as the writer thinks they are) for better humor and fiercer action sequences and moments fitting of the 70s thriller landscape, The Drowning Pool may not be as intelligent as the first film, but its entertainment value is a lot higher than people give it credit for. Honestly, it just makes me miss Paul Newman as Lew Harper more by the time the credits roll. I don’t care what the box office was. This deserved a trilogy at the very least.