Summer Rain

I thought the film was great fun, a film to snuggle up on the sofa with and have a good laugh. The characters were strong and quirky but realistic. I thought the photography was excellent and enjoyed watching the story unfold. The scenery was lovely and based in Sussex a very beautiful part of England. The directing was excellent and a film which i would recommend. I think Jonathan Glendening has a real future in directing films, he clearly has an eye for a story which works and the characters were fun, energetic and enthusiastic in their work. I would definitely go to see another movie by Jonathan, we need more funding in England for the very fine and up and coming movie makers of British films.

This is an assured contemporary drama from one of the UK's hottest young directors. Gary (Paul Vaughan Evans) is dumped at his girlfriend's twenty first party, much to his surprise, and attempts to win back the love of his life. A compelling coming-of-age drama unfolds as the script ranges across moments of comedy, suspense and acute self-reflection. The largely unknown cast give uniformly excellent performances. Stunningly photographed in the Brighton summer, the City has never looked so great on film. This movie is a brave riposte to all that is regrettably vapid and fundamentally faux about so much current British film-making. a a a

i rented summer rain with great expectation having both read some good reviews and the assurity that it had featured at brightons own 'duke of york' picture house. basically it stank. the cinematography was first class. the sound too was well thought through, ie in loud music sequences. they clearly had the right people in to do the job. but this film suffers from hollyoak syndrome. ie bad acting. i cared so little about the characters that i had to feign interest after ten minutes. lines were delivered as if they had been read only minutes before the shoot and as if they had another four episodes to film that week. the storyline as it was seemed to drag and so much was made of the brighton seafront as if to underpin the weak script. coming to a bargain bin near you

Writer/Director Jonathan Glendening's rough n' tumble indie feature was released 20 years ago, and his zesty beachside 20-something comedy has happily retained much of its boorish, roguishly comedic charm! The colourful performances from the raw young cast are quite splendid, their unfamiliarity adding an frisson of verisimilitude to the all too familiar narrative. 'Summer Rain is a playful, fun-dappled, seaside serenade to disastrous break-ups, blissful boozy nights out, saucy nights in, and far from refined bachelor cuisine! Flame-haired Michelle inopportunely chooses her 21st birthday to break up with her long-term artistically-inclined boyfriend Gary (Paul Vaughan Evans) which fatefully acts as the emotional catalyst for his increasingly desperate attempts to win back Michelle's waning affections. While far from subtle, Summer Rain is arguably at its boisterous best during the amusingly noisome exchanges of its youthful, party-hearty protagonists, with some especially toothsome badinage between angsty Michelle and her no less emotionally beleaguered flatmates Vicky (Lara Clancy) and Becky (Cath Sampson). Enticingly framed against the irresistibly solar-hazed decadence of Brighton in all its gaudy summer-singed glory, Jonathan Glendening's 'Summer Rain' remains a charmingly relatable tale for twentysomethings of all ages!'

Wow!!

I was very kindly invited to the premiere of 'Summer Rain' at the historic Duke of York's cinema in Brighton a few weeks ago and was MIGHTY impressed - its a hell of an exciting film... the cinematography is top notch and does great justice to the regency regality of Brighton and Hove. The acting in the piece is excellent with strong performances by all the lead roles - there is even a wicked cameo by Hove and Neighbours legend Mark Little!!

I would heartly recommend Summer Rain in two ways. Firstly as a great film in its own right (and a truly remarkable 1st feature) and secondly as a wonderful advert for Brighton - its shown in all its glory during the 120 mins!!

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