Having just gotten some very bad news from the doctors yesterday, I've been in a deep depression. I've been looking for movies to help bring me out of it. There's an awful lot of movies out there nowadays that are try-hards. Long gone are the days of Porky's and Meatballs. Once in awhile, you can find a great movie like Wet Hot American Summer, which was a blessing because they went on to have 2 small Seasons after the movie. But most movies are things like American Pie that really aren't that funny and then they go on to have a ton of sequels that just get less funny as you go. So when I saw Staten Island Summer, I very nearly flicked past it until I saw that it had Saturday Night Live alumni on it. Now I'm not familiar with any of the young actors, but there was one that played the maintenance man in this movie who I always thought was funny on SNL, so I gave it a chance. There was some spots what kind of dragged but every time it started to drag, they would drop in things like actors from The Sopranos or police officers that help them get booze because they're underage and it would just make me break out laughing! This movie is definitely what the doctor ordered!
Our main protagonist is the young man who's graduating high school and going on to college at Harvard, while his best friend is staying home with his parents. These two have worked as lifeguards at this really beautiful pool as soon as they were old enough to work and they've been swimming there all of their lives! So this is the last hurrah, and all of the lifeguards collectively being the same age one of the other ones is about to join the Navy, they decide that that closing weekend they were going to have a staff party. However the guy who is the manager is just a despicable human being just awful sexually harassing the guests to the pool, putting a out of order sign on a bathroom stall so he can have his own personal shall we say make out space for only himself. And he is taken the keys to the entire pool and they have to get those keys in order to have the party. So I'm not going to give you any spoilers because I really want you to watch this movie but I'm going to get into the positives and negatives.
The positives are definitely the acting. Everybody was very believable. It was thoroughly enjoyable the actors were very well cast! The script was GREAT! Other than a couple spots where things kind of slowed down, it was VERY well written, and I think most people who grew up in the 80's & 90's could identify with this at least in part! Camera work was great, I could find no flaws! For the negatives, I really can't say, other than a couple slow spots, because it was so thoroughly enjoyable that I didn't see any other negatives! OOOH! I SHOULD mention, this ISN'T family friendly, even though there ARE kids in it! There's A LOT of dirty jokes, sexual situations, and at least 1 topless female that I remember!
So, if you are looking for something to make you laugh, forget your troubles, and the kids aren't around, THIS is the movie for you!!!
Our main protagonist is the young man who's graduating high school and going on to college at Harvard, while his best friend is staying home with his parents. These two have worked as lifeguards at this really beautiful pool as soon as they were old enough to work and they've been swimming there all of their lives! So this is the last hurrah, and all of the lifeguards collectively being the same age one of the other ones is about to join the Navy, they decide that that closing weekend they were going to have a staff party. However the guy who is the manager is just a despicable human being just awful sexually harassing the guests to the pool, putting a out of order sign on a bathroom stall so he can have his own personal shall we say make out space for only himself. And he is taken the keys to the entire pool and they have to get those keys in order to have the party. So I'm not going to give you any spoilers because I really want you to watch this movie but I'm going to get into the positives and negatives.
The positives are definitely the acting. Everybody was very believable. It was thoroughly enjoyable the actors were very well cast! The script was GREAT! Other than a couple spots where things kind of slowed down, it was VERY well written, and I think most people who grew up in the 80's & 90's could identify with this at least in part! Camera work was great, I could find no flaws! For the negatives, I really can't say, other than a couple slow spots, because it was so thoroughly enjoyable that I didn't see any other negatives! OOOH! I SHOULD mention, this ISN'T family friendly, even though there ARE kids in it! There's A LOT of dirty jokes, sexual situations, and at least 1 topless female that I remember!
So, if you are looking for something to make you laugh, forget your troubles, and the kids aren't around, THIS is the movie for you!!!