When a harried businessman and a hapless crook collide on the biggest day of both their careers, the only road seems to lead straight to comic disaster. A workaholic advertising executive (David Paymer) is stuck driving t... more »he neighborhood carpool on the day of a make-or-break presentation. A down-on-his luck carnival owner (Tom Arnold), fleeing a bungled robbery, takes the exec and his vanful of kids hostage and begins a comic day-long chase through the city streets where the two men learn some unexpected lessons and forge an unlikely friendship.« less
"8/31/03 The video was a "better than average" video with many action scenes of "police car chase" due to a robbery interceded by Tom Arnold who was just looking for a "donut" and ended with the money instead of the real robbers..Arnold's character also ends up with a hostage (who was carpooling and had come into the store just to get bread and roll and Danish buns)with no casualty,just more demolition work for the mechanics..Emphasis was on "small town" which had a Mall,a Sizzler,(mention of a Denny,a Gourmet Food Market,a Carnival(belonging to Arnold which had closed),a very active Barber Shop-Beauty Salon(where the hostage(a middle management executive),the kids he's car-pooling:(5): adolescent to teen) and of course the man with the gun "Arnold" purchased hair dye in aerosol cans to spray the "Van" purple vs its recently commercial paint job of green) and almost as many employees who are "policemen" as were those who would need "one'.Even the meter maid had a "state of the arts vehicle" : both her vehicle and the vehicle being pursued cars maneuvered right up the steps inside the Mall..It ends with a teen reminding the "Mogul" that the adult population in the "small town"is getting old & "moving to Florida" or "permanently exiting to Forest Lawn Cemetary" [exception being those toteing their own gun like one of the very gutzy little "Arsenic and Old Lace" ladies in the Gourmet Shop /or like Arnold's mother whom he talked to on the Beauty Salon phone and warned her not to go to the Sizzler's.She is 'solo' in the last scene in the movie with background music of the "rock song" "Tell Mama What You Need" single handedly demolishing a Sizzler ripping out its furnishings and throwing them through its window ....she hadn't been pleased with the service]and that the stores should focus on the adolescent,puberty and teen groups as the consumer to please(the business meeting at a Hammermans Gourmet Shop corporate quarters dismissed the idea of their being enough population in the the adult age gap from 30 Something -to- "the Aged" to need focus on them as consumers).The other plots are routine to most family movies:(dad puts "job/career" second to getting home early for supper when he reqalizes the kids like the man whose taken him hostage betten than himself,truly bad guys get caught,estranged people meeting again due to fate(the meter maid and the top police officer), a stong woman(Arnold's mother can beat a fleet of police officer via biteing and punching,middle management gets a chance to befavored in place of upper management) .There is novelty in the "car chase scenes" and "background music".So many issues to make you say "hmmmmm" in a movie that gets you to also say "this is unbelieveable"."
When doughnuts go wrong!
gamecubeie | orlando | 06/01/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"this review is named what it is because theres five kids in an SUV, a criminal, a guy late for his meeting, and the crook is holding everyone hostage! What could be better! The crook is new to it, so hes asking everyone if hes going a good job and the kids are hgelping get away by painting the blue SUV purple!!!!!!!!! If I could rent it or buy it, I would buy it on DVD, but rent it on VHS."
Hey this is not garbage its Carpool
08/12/2002
(5 out of 5 stars)
"What a hilarous movie carpool was. Tom Arnold acted good but the skinny guy was better. Carpool has the best comedy parts a movie has ever had. Carpool is worth more than 5 stars!
Carpool rocks."
Carpool Review
L. Zito | 08/20/2008
(3 out of 5 stars)
"It's a fun movie . . . pretty slap stick, but I just wanted it for the grandkids and to watch once a year."
Carpool Is A Decent Entertainer
Mahakshey Chakraborthy | Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu India | 07/02/2006
(2 out of 5 stars)
"ON THE WHOLE CARPOOL IS A DECENT ENTERTAINER. THE FILM ISN'T HALIROUS BUT IT IS FUNNY. THE FILM ISN'T BORING AT ALL. A ONE TIME WATCHER.