Jogos de Praia

For the first few moments, as the characters were introduced, "Beach Balls" looked like it was going to be a cut above the typical '80s boob comedy. The characters seemed a little more relatable and human, and the movie had a likeable protagonist. There was also a more interesting dynamic than the usual nerd-vs-jock thing, in that there was a lifeguard after a girl whose main problem is not that he's a jerk, but that he is uptight and takes his job really seriously.

But then, disaster struck. The movie went nowhere and did nothing with any of these characters or situations. It features two musical numbers, as awful as you know to expect, and a boring party sequence at the end, and not much else. It becomes dreadfully boring, and pointless. I couldn't wait for it to end.

Oh, and it has barely any nudity, surprisingly. I only noticed one, dimly lit topless scene.

As a young kid, I remember fondly some great teen movies back in the 80s & 90s. So when I saw that this movie was from the same era (and I've never seen nor heard of it till then). I got excited and expected more of the same experience, as Revenge of the Nerds, The Sure Thing, My Science Project, Breakfast Club, Zapped, Ferries Buller's Day Off - you get the picture.

After watching 20 mins of it, I now understand why I've never heard of it. Simply put, this movie STINKS. Not just a little, but A LOT!

Acting is non-existent. And not just by one or two actors, but pretty much the entire cast. The dialogue - if you call it that - always seems strained, un-natural. This must have been a movie that was straight to VCR in its day.

I honestly gave this movie a chance to get better (and get going), but after 20 minutes, I no longer could stand it and stopped watching it.

If you're smart, you shouldn't even bother with it. There are better choices to spend time on out there, like watching grass grow.

You're welcome.

Charlie Harrison dreams of being a rock star and, with the help of friends and a gang of local toughs, he arranges a concert in his house for a big time record producer, or at least that is what Charlie thought he was arranging.

By any objective measure, this film should be no more than a 4 or 5 out of 10. But I am by no means required to be objective, and for that reason have given this film a very rare high rating. Why? Because it was mindlessly fun, yet still brilliantly scripted. This is the sort of film that could be enjoyed again and again because it is just so cleverly senseless.

I would love to see a blu-ray company like Arrow Video pick this up. The DVD is full-screen and not terribly clean (maybe a VHS transfer?). Does this film deserve a major upgrade? I think so.

Some boobs and other fun, incorporated.

Lame-o kid wants to be a rock star, but he's just so.... well..... LAME. He'll still hope for a contract with a music mogul, but that's mostly wishful thinking. All this blarney is the blinking in between the good parts where we see BOOB!

Good title, though.

My review was written in October 1988 after watching the film on Media Home Entertainment video cassette.

"Beach Balls", previously titled "Summertime Fun", is a routine teen comedy briefly released last May, and currently in home video distribution.

Familiar format deals with young unrequited romances, intertwined as follows: hero Charlie (Phillip Paley) has the hots for beautiful beach girl Wendy (Heidi Helmer), while Charlie's older sister Kathleen (Leslie Danon) dreams only about lifeguard Doug (Tod Bryant), who just happens to be Wendy's protective brother.

Proper pairings take nearly the whole film to accomplish, while Douglas R. Starr sings some okay rock numbers and an unfunny Erich von Zipper gang of hooligans led by Charles Gilleran make trouble. Genre hasn't progressed much in over two decades with its stereotype depictions of parents.

Director Joe Ritter doesn't get many laughs from these teen antic and the sexual sequence of whether beautiful but timid Danon will get it on with Bryant is dragged out in very corny fashion. WIndup is in the very dated "my life was saved by rock 'n' roll" vein.