The Sandpiper

Okay so I sat through this at my girlfriend's request. She's a film student and she makes me watch a lot of pretty painful movies. At first, this movie felt kind of like a kids movie. But then you watch it for a while and it starts to move. The two guys feel like kids you went to high school with. Or the kid you hung out with on school vacations when you got shipped to your Dad's. He's this kid you may not hang out with during the rest of the year, but he's probably a better friend for that. And no, it's not like Threesome where one of them is gay. I teased my girlfriend that I didn't want to see the movie unless it was about two chicks and one guy, but the truth is, this is probably the more likely college threesome scenario. I have to say my sex life wasn't anywhere near this experimental in high school. The girl was hot in that girl next door way that girls are hot in high school before they go and get breast implants and all that. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I liked this movie a lot more than I expected to, the soundtrack rocked, the sex advice the one kid got from his nudist stepdad (who was great by the way) was LOL hilarious, and if your girlfriend drags you to some indie movie no one's ever heard of before, you could do a lot worse than this. I thought it was really pretty cool.

This is one of those movies that will probably never come to your theater unless you live in some funky college town, but if you get a chance to see it, I recommend it! It is the story of two best friends who fall in love with the new girl in town and how she can't decide between them. They all end up hanging out together, but romance keeps getting in the way of friendship. What's cool about it is that the story is only told in summertime -- over three or four summers. It's like the winter part of life - school and friends and home stuff, is just a breath you take between summers. And it's about those years leading up to college and freedom. It reminded me of camp crushes and finding out about cool new bands no one else had heard of and all the personalities and behaviors you try on when you're 16 and trying to figure out who the hell you want to be. It was bittersweet and sad and funny and naughty - no famous actors really - just a cool little movie about a "doomed" first love. Rent it!

The first thing I'd say about the movie is it's funnier than I thought it would be from the poster. Netflix has it listed as a romantic drama, which it isn't at all. If anything I guess I'd say it's a dark romantic comedy. The story is like taking a musical boat ride through "It's A Small World" in Disneyworld - except all the stops along the way are twisted highlights of the four-year relationship between these three high school kids who are trying to stay friends through a hairy relationship. Have you ever dumped someone for their best friend, who was also your best friend, and your first friend was too cool to ditch you altogether, so you all still hung out, hoping it would eventually stop being weird? That's what's happening here. And the events that come up, the influence of their eccentric (or weirdly normal) families, and other summer characters at the cottages, are sort of hilarious and dark and sad and awkward and funny ha ha.

This whole thing rolls along to this awesomely inventive soundtrack - Who puts Patti Page together with Suicidal Tendencies? And the Dead Milkmen and Matthew Sweet and Jesus and Mary Chain and some French singer doing These Boots Were made for Walkin' IN FRENCH! And this is the first time I've heard anyone use Nouvelle Vague in a movie - covering the Dead Kennedys! The music absolutely kicked butt and took the movie to the next level.

I also liked that they tried to make a movie that looks like a MOVIE, not like most no budget movies lately that look like they weren't even trying to make anything more than a home movie, and we're supposed to like it anyway because we're that cool. Sometimes it's nice to just see a MOVIE. So: cool for that.

Over all, I'd give this movie an Independent Spirit Award just for "Best Use of 'Institutionalized' in a Soundtrack. I hope they release the soundtrack!

I didn't go to summer camp, but this movie makes me wish I did. It's a great little movie about 2 best friends that fall in love with the same girl and her attempt to love both of them.

I get so sick of the same movie every time I go to the theatre. It's refreshing to see a film maker that's making a film that has some heart and doesn't feel like it was pieced together by marketing execs. This film really makes me see how a relationship can evolve between summer friends over a number of years. How summer is a magic time for kids when you don't have to worry about getting into college.

I have no idea what the budget was, but I'm impressed by the production values. There aren't any real names in this film. I'm punk rock enough to recognize John Doe, but after his tour de force as the bartender in ROAD HOUSE, I wouldn't really call him a blockbuster name. It feels like a bunch of people said let's go to the beach for a month and make a movie, what the hell. The entire movie is filled with that playfulness.

The soundtrack rocks. I gotta figure out who the band is that's doing bossanova versions of old punk songs. Does the singer even speak English?????

If you get a chance, see this movie. It will remind you of every girl or boy you fell in love with over the summer and never saw again.