Carpool (1996): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1996, Carpool is a comedy and family film directed by Arthur Hiller, running about 89 minutes. “A dad in a hurry. A man on the run. And five kids with an attitude.” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. A man with an important business meeting finds himself having to take care of the carpool for the neighborhood school children when his wife gets sick. Stopping to get donuts for the kids, things go even more awry when he finds himself a victim of a robbery. However, the situation only gets worse as a desperate man who had been contemplating a bank robbery robs the robbers and takes the man and the kids hostage in their van as his truck is blocked by an armored car. The thing then proceeds into a comedic chase movie. The father finds his kids don't really respect him and they react better to the robber. The end result is everyone gets a lifestyle change, including the original store owner.

Who’s in it. Carpool stars Tom Arnold as Franklin Laszlo, David Paymer as Daniel Miller, Rhea Perlman as Martha and Rod Steiger as Mr. Hammerman, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 5.0/10, Carpool has proved divisive with audiences.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube and Fandango At Home. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Carpool page.

If you liked it. Fans of Carpool tend to enjoy Forrest Gump, Parasite, Life Is Beautiful and Fight Club.