The Robert Downey Jr. Film Guide: Hugo Pool (1997)

[My father] was trying to help me out and I was just in a bad place. But it’s a cult favorite among some of my peers because I was, like, 138 pounds and it was beyond improvisation. It’s like, “Wow, he’s literally bouncing this performance off some space shuttle far away!” Which, to tell you the truth, is just another one of my special skills: fencing, archery, and acting in a blackout ... It was really weird because my dad was directing it. My cousin was working on the film. It was ouchy and painful for them to see, but, my work didn’t suffer from [my drug use]. But that didn’t mean it was okay.

Present day (1997), Los Angeles.

Released in theaters on 12 December 1997. On DVD in Region 1, 2 and 4 (titled "Pool Girl" in R2)

Argentina: Las Piscinas de Hugo (Hugo’s Pools)
Denmark: Klor-vand og Kærlighed (Chlorine Water and Love)
Finland: Rakkautta Uima-Altaalla (Love the Swimming Pool)
France: Chaude Journée à L.A. (Hot Day in L.A.)
Italy: Piscine-Incontri a Beverly Hills (Swimming Pools - Encounter in Beverly Hills)
Portugal: Sonhar em Los Angeles (Dreaming in Los Angeles)
Russia: Company Hugo (English translation)
Sweden: Simbassänger och Kärlek (Swimming Pools and Love)

14% Fresh | 8 Reviews

Emanuel Levy, Variety: It’s also not surprising that the most idiosyncratic performance belongs to [the] helmer’s son, Downey Jr., a brilliant actor who has a tendency to overact and here has a field day with his over-the-top European accent and mannerisms.

Jack Mathews, Los Angeles Times: We hate to hit a man when he’s down, but what a week for Robert Downey Jr.! On Monday, a judge orders him to jail for six months for violating probation on past drug offenses, and today, Hugo Pool opens, putting on public display one of the worst performances he or any major star has recorded on film.

Owen Glieberman, Entertainment Weekly: The movie, which seems to be taking place in a sitcom insane asylum, is so fey and scattershot that about all it leaves you to focus on is which actor is giving the most annoying performance ... One actor, I’m afraid, tops them all. Robert Downey Jr., as a lunatic who babbles camp gibberish in assorted unintelligible accents, is beyond bad. In Hugo Pool, he’s truly his father’s son—a granulated flake off the old block.

1. You really like the idea of a skinny shirtless Dutch Downey.
2. Plot and coherence rank last on your list of important qualities in a movie.