shlevine

There's nothing to dislike about this movie. The actors do a terrific job all around--from the scene-stealing eyepatch kid to Allison Janey's lush to Steve Carrell's first role as a d-bag. Kudos to the kid playing Duncan and the guy playing his...boss? mentor? friend? saviour?--or all of the above. The scenery is lovely and convincingly real--no beach McMansions with $6,500 Wolf ranges. It shows what a real beach community looks like. The '70 Buick Estate Wagon is sublime and had me kvelling.

But it's the story that really makes the viewer smile. Duncan is a lost, lonely, mess...14, stuck with his mom whom he loves (but doesn't really respect), her douchebag boyfriend, boyfriend's daughter, and not much else. He finds his way in a way that defines a coming-of-age story. The Water Wizz guy--channeling Bill Murray in Meatballs in an obvious homage--does a great job, never losing sight of his own challenges in life while helping young Duncan emerge from his painful shell.

Other than Matthew's abs, the always-enjoyable Kathy Bates and...well...that's all there is to this astonishingly formulaic movie. I thought it would be tough to be worse than I expected...but this is one instance where FTL excels. The plot is so bad it's painful. Matthew should limit his "acting" to the aforementioned abs and the most Pepsodent-white teeth extant. SJP is pretty terrible too, trying to channel a little Carrie Bradshaw and simply ending up being obnoxious. And I have to agree with another poster who noted that the friends are so wooden, so unimaginative, and so downright UNfunny that they drag this titanic of a dud down even further. The silly animal jokes, the annoying scene in the gun shop (ps: why were they in a gun shop in the first place?), the totally unnecessary paintball game, the even less necessary mountain biking scene...

Bottom line: SJP should be ashamed of herself for choosing this atrocious role after the equally awful movie she made late last year with Diane Keaton, MM should stick to doing crunches and smiling, and Terry Bradshaw...well, you have to give him props for having the guts to show that ass.