The Pool is a problematic film, typical of recent cinema. The plot moves slowly and this patient pace enables director Charles Smith to successfully set a mood and engages the audience in the lives of the characters. You want the protagonist – a Hindi-speaking hotel boy named Venkatesh – to succeed but the film never tells you if he makes it. It is pleasant to watch but the fact that it is considered to be one of the most outstanding films of 2008 illustrates how much North American cinema has fallen. The screenplay contains little tension and no denouement. It …