Summer '03

I don't know why this film has such horrible reviews. I think it's a very relatable film. I watched the movie without looking at reviews prior to watching and I'm glad I did that otherwise I wouldn't have given the film the time of day. The film portrays a teen who doesn't know exactly what she wants in life or who she wants to be as a person. She struggles with controlling her emotions, and personal relationships while figuring out societal rules and how to be independent. I was 16 in 2006 and I acted very similar to the character, Jaime. Rebelling, using swear words, trying alcohol, being put in sexual situations, it's reminiscent of my teens. If I could NOT relate to the main character, I might think that the film is trashy, due to the language and sexual situations. However, I feel it did a great job at portraying how real teens behave.

One of the most real descriptions of what teenage girls go through during a pivotal summer. Raging hormones, rebellious acting out. The brother Dylan was also hilarious. If there was one thing that seemed slightly less realistic it was the fact that it was so easy for high school students to get alcohol. The language might be off putting for some of the more prudish however this is how a lot of high school girls talk whether you want to admit it or not.

It's the summer of 2003. Jamie Winkle (Joey King) and her family are sent into chaos when her dying grandmother Dotty (June Squibb) unveils a series of revelations. Baby Jamie had been baptized by Dotty without telling her Jewish mother Shira (Andrea Savage). Jamie is taken with Luke who is training to be a priest. March has an unrequited crush on her. Her best friend Emily is a fast girl from L.A.

This is a relatively standard coming of age dysfunctional family comedies about a hormone filled teen. This one is about a girl which comes with its own issues. I struggle with Jamie's likeability. She's struggling to know right from wrong and sex and all the big questions. Joey King is a hot girl looking for sex. It's never quite as funny as a geeky guy desperately trying to lose his virginity. Guys look stupid and the audience laugh at them. It's tougher to make girls struggle to have sex. The best that can be achieved is the girls having bad sex and Jamie isn't even doing that. There are still laughs to be had in this movie but whoever this Becca Gleason is, she has to figure out how to get more humor out of her comedies.

The story is surprisingly engaging! The protagonist is rebellious but she is really likable. I can relate to her situation and her feelings. The story telling is great as well. I really enjoyed this light hearted coming of age comedy.

Not a comedy, not a drama. That's fine because the movie, as the life, is more complex than placing into a single category would otherwise imply. Do not expect any laught (comedy) or tears/anger (drama). This is a mix btwn a coming-of-age story and living in a, somehow, dysfunctional family (dysfunctional because of grandma last words). The tone is that of a comedy, I would say a rated comedy, the content is (supposed to be) more serious. I loved the work done by Joey King (Jamie), not so much the character she played, a self-centered girl. However who would ever like the way a teen behaves or think when he/she is in the middle of the hormonal storm and in the phase of finding herself as an adult; indeed, most of the time, you cannot even stand your beloved kids when in that phase, so not loving Jamie is understandable. Nothing to say about the other characters/actors. They are either dull, not quite convincing or just poorly written. You can watch it and forget but not regret.

BTW. I read some comments claiming that the movie content is anti-semitic. No way it is (see the producers)!!! Quite the opposite indeed. Catholics (grandma & most characters) here are seen as hypocrite, dumb or just followers of an empty rite. The final scene (Jamie speech at the church) is one of the most offensive thing I could ever had imagined. Acceptable as viewer because movie need to be free but over the lines. The same the depiction of the young priest, depicted as someone searching a stable job occupation (really? In 2018, being a priest in a post-religious world is something not really "safe"). Last but not least the german character (the "real" grandpa of Jamie) is just a joke, not even a stereotype because to be a stereotype you need a truth behind