Vacationland

Awful is really all one needs to know. First think of all the things that could be bad about a movie. And then try to make a movie that is bad in all of these ways. You will have made "Vacationland." The state of Maine should feel insulted: it's much too nice a place to serve as the backdrop for such trite, mindless, boring schlock. I'm a romantic, and I always want movies about two people finding each other to succeed, and I tried hard to find the good in this one. It was tough; very tough. I couldn't find a glimmer of emotional connection among any of the characters in this exercise in humdrum dreariness. Except maybe in one or two of the bad guys.

Maine IS a good vacationland; this movie is not.

One of the worst if not the worst written movies I have ever seen. It felt disjointed and all over the place as at times it looked like scenes were missing with how random it was. To top it off I felt many of the characters weren't very likable and the movie sort of has an underlying plot which seemed like an afterthought as it wasn't focused on much. There were various things in the movie which needed to be explored more or period really which would have vastly improved it because as it stands it just feels incoherent. It's hard to even say there was an underlying plot as the movie has no real main plot. The movie doesn't necessarily need a plot beyond watching the main characters experience growth except I didn't really see that in this film.

This film is about a young man's painful journey to discovering his sexuality.

The film is raw and unpretentious. It does not rely on steamy sex scenes to attract the viewers. Though the plot may seem incoherent and disconnected at times, and some events are not properly explained. I can understand it though, because this film is a collection of memories that are highly personal to the director. The subplot of about his sister and mother probably does not need to exist in the film, but I can certainly imagine that these are very important events in his life.

The low budget of the film is clearly discernible. It is a pity that the sound effects are poorly done. The narration and some dialogs (particularly the scene in the classroom with the French teacher) have so much echo, which makes it hard to make out what is said. The ambient noise, notable traffic noise, is also captured throughout the film. When a scene cuts into another, the level of traffic noise changes.

This film is probably not entertaining, but it certainly serves as an insightful diary of a young man's journey to embracing his sexuality.

The further removed from watching this film, the more chance I had to change my initial impressions of it. There was some very nice acting by Brad Hallowell--very impressive in his film debut and in the starring role,no less (and just an incredibly sexy, adorable guy). Gregory J. Lucas was also good as Andrew.

The female roles were poorly cast/poorly written/poorly acted in some combination at almost every time. Also, while the guys seemed to be able to play younger (18), the women playing the high school girls seemed way too old and the woman playing Joe's mother was RIDICULOUSLY too young.

The high school girls were caricatures -- overly silly and just didn't have real roles. The sister was also not believable--although I think it was more the writing that her acting.

Story-wise, it was enjoyable and seemed to have a nice arc. However, there were huge leaps in the plot--sometimes between scenes, sometimes right in the MIDDLE of scenes. There were also some twists/tangents that didn't really fit to the story. The script and the film could both have used some better editing and the direction seemed non-existent in stretches.

All that said, I would still recommend seeing this movie--on the strength of the acting by the leads, their on-screen chemistry, and the viewer's interest in learning what happens to them.

Director Todd Verow's unexpected turn into sentimental coming-out drama yields a predictable result: Nothing new to see here. Attractive but unconvincing leads - these 20-somethings are supposed to be in high school? - dribbling out banalities about confused, adolescent sexuality doesn't strike me as the best way to explore the promise of Anonymous, which was equally self-involved, but also honest, raw and, by comparison, not all that maudlin. I have no idea what to make of this drab and uninspiring movie other than to hope that Verow finds another career. Sure, it's unpretentious, but so's Mike Huckabee.

No single attribute, however, is as awful as Jim Dwyer's chintzy, electronic score, which grates non-stop, wall-to-wall for the full length of this movie. If I'd seen this, and heard this, in a theatre, I would have walked out. Thankfully, on my laptop, I could scrub and hit mute.