A Review on a Movie Carpool

“Carpool” begins with a man rushing to get ready for an important business meeting. His wife asks him to drive their children to school after picking up the others in their carpool. He grudgingly does so, and the first crime of the movie occurs shortly afterwards at only eight minutes in. We see one of the man’s neighbors, an old man, gardening, and as they drive by we can see he is only wearing a shirt. It is noted by the main character that his neighbor is an elderly man who is forgetful, and we can ascertain that the man is likely suffering from some form of dementia or something similar. However, nearly all states their own variation of indecent exposure laws (with the exception of Vermont), which their neighbor has clearly violated. It is, however, extremely unlikely that this would lead to a conviction, as it would be hard to prove that the old man was not simply forgetful or confused. It is also mentioned in the movie that the neighbor had survived three strokes; this would almost certainly free him from any criminal liability in the matter.

As the movie progresses, the man has picked up three of the children and is still driving to the school, but is frustrated at their complaining, as they are hungry. He decides to stop at a bakery to buy food for them so that they will be quiet during the rest of the trip. However, when he attempts to pay for the food, at nineteen minutes in, two armed gunmen enter with handguns and rob the bakery. Armed robbery of any establishment – be it a bank, or a bakery – is a very serious offense that typically, for a first time offender, results in at least five to ten years in prison. If these men were to be caught it would almost certainly result in a conviction as any crime that involves deadly weapons is taken very seriously. It is likely that they would face charges of robbery and also charges for weapons possession.

In the moments following the robbery, there is some confusion, as multiple shoppers in the bakery pull out weapons on the robbers. A police officer enters, and points his gun at one of the shoppers that appears to be an armed robber, telling him to drop his weapon. He acts belligerently, first pointing his handgun at the officer, and then pointing it at the main character, and then taking him as a hostage and stealing his car – all with the money from the robbery. There are a multitude of charges that could follow the beginning of these actions, ranging from the more minor misuse of a firearm to the more major assault or attempted assault with a deadly weapon. He would also face some sort of robbery charge for taking off with the money. A Chicago man named Charles Lemle allegedly pointed a gun at police officers on New Year ’s Day in 2014 and received three counts of aggravated assault towards a police officer. Pointing a gun at a police officer is a very serious crime that would certainly lead to a prosecution and a felony charge. The taking of a hostage would likely result in kidnapping or a lesser but similar charge, and the theft of the automobile would simply tack on to the multitude of charges. It is revealed to the hostage-taker shortly after he has driven the car that there are children in it (5 kids), and it would be likely that a kidnapping charge would be added for each of them. All in all this man would be facing a very lengthy prison term.

At about 30 minutes into the film the two original robbers head to the house of the man that left with the money from the bakery. At the bakery, they had stolen his wallet and thusly found his address, which they headed to. After finding the house, they break in, only to be greeted by an angry woman that kicks them out of her house. For entering the home without being allowed to, they would face a breaking-and-entering charge, or even a burglary charge. This would largely depend on whether or not the lady called the police and decided to press charges.

At this point in the movie the man that took off from the bakery with the money from the robbery, took hostages, and stole a car, is evading the police in a series of car chases in the stolen car. Some of these chases end with the pursuing police crashing, which could easily lead to him being liable for their death or injury. He would, at the very least, certainly face a charge for evading police if caught. As he continues to evade the police he eventually manages to get the car inside of a shopping mall. It is illegal to drive a car inside a shopping mall, and doing so would result in some sort of reckless driving / public disturbance charge.

The officers arrive at the shopping mall to find that the suspect has been stopped by a meter maid that has been pursuing the suspect for a parking violation. She’s holding him at gunpoint with a deadly weapon. The officer that was at the bakery steps in and tells her that he’s got it covered, when she points the weapon at him and tells him to back off. In this case, she’s committing the same crime that was committed earlier in the bakery; that is; pointing a deadly weapon at an officer. This could easily lead to an assault charge against her. The likelihood of this happening, however, is not high, as she doesn’t appear to be trying very hard to coerce the police officer. A crime is committed by her, but it’s not very obvious, and the police officer being threatened doesn’t look very threatened.

But while this is happening, the main character of the film begins fleeing in the car in the hopes of still being able to make it to his business meeting. He commits the same crime of driving through the shopping mall – the first crime he commits in the movie – but, while doing so, he endangers the lives of many shoppers as he dodges and swerves around them in the car. This could incur an assault with a motor vehicle charge, or even a mayhem charge against him, both of which would make him a felon. But as he is doing this, he decides to exit the shopping mall by driving through a glass fixture on the second floor. He destroys it with the car, which is also against the law, as this is destruction of property. The severity of this charge would likely depend on the dollar figure placed on the damage. It would be extremely likely that the main character would face prosecution for these acts because he could have simply stayed in the car, but instead chose to drive off with it. It is important to note that the hostage-taker the police have been chasing over the course of the movie manages to get back in the car, effectively making the main character now an accomplice, as he gets his kidnapper out of the hands of the police as a getaway driver. For this, he would face charges of aiding a criminal, and almost certainly a charge for impeding the police.

The main character of the film drops Franklin (the hostage-taker) off where he wanted to go. So far, he has made a conscious decision to help Franklin; he has certainly aided him in not only evading the police but also in getting across town. This would incur very serious charges and likely leave both of them as felons.

But, at this point, the very first robbers in the movie return to get their money from Franklin, brandishing guns and effectively robbing him. Again, armed robbery – twice in one day. However, a melee breaks out between all four characters, and the two robbers are subdued. They would likely face robbery and other related charges for this – it’s still illegal to rob thieves, after all. That is the last crime committed in the movie, and, judging from the severity and frequency of the crimes, all the adults that broke the law in the movie would be serving very extensive prison terms.