National Lampoon Presents: Surf Party

Take this movie for what it is. A snapshot of what life was like in the 80's in a suburban Southern California beach community. The correct approach is to soak up the feeling it evokes not rip the plot up. The plot isn't the point. Granted, it may not be a period piece many are interested in but it is accurate depiction of lower middle class life was like at that time with a lot of silliness mixed in. These are kids from single-family non-attentive households, not aspiring to anything beyond they know outside their little universe of beaches, girls and recreational drugs. It also shows how a gang mentality begins. These surfer kids were each others family and were very territorial. In this case a kid from the "Valley" (San Fernando Valley) was trespassing and stole one of the local kid's surfboards triggering a manhunt to retrieve it. No plan, no strategy, no thinking three steps ahead. In other words exactly how teenagers behave and think. It's lucky they were able to film in a place that basically hasn't changed in 20 years.

I love surfer flicks. It's not a good one, but it's watchable. It's a cool beach flick. The main guy is kinda cool too. The blonde surfer type. Some of the chicks are hot. It's a laidback surfer film. Nothing to be learned. It's cool!

I don't know. Watch it if that sounds cool.

3 stars

The title is very misleading and I do not see why they put National Lampoon in front of this movie and why did they call it surf party? When I started to watch this movie I did not have very high expectations about the content and thought this would be like another hyperactive T&A movie with a surf theme.

To my surprise, I found out this was not true. Instead this is a coming of age movie that tells a story about some friends on a journey to find a stolen surf board and why the surf board got stolen. Main characters are likable and the acting feels normal. The movie flows along in a nice pace and I never got bored or looked at the clock while watching this movie.

This movie reminds me of teen movies from the late 70's like The Van (1977) and Malibu Beach (1978). The movie also has some quirky characters appearing like Joan Jett and Lee Ving. The only thing missing here is Steve Oliver as Dugan, getting into a fight and yelling, "Nobody calls Dugan a turd!"

As a surf comedy and a National Lampoon movie, there is no nudity, but the girls show some skin in bikini's. I think the movie tries to rely on storytelling and characters rather than showing T&A to keep viewers interested though the movie.

A modern surf comedy that feels like a late 70's surf comedy? A pleasant surprise.

After receiving a new surfboard from his good friend and mentor, "Mike Mooney" (Matthew Lillard), a recent high school graduate known simply as "J. D." (Khan Chittenden) takes it out to the ocean for the first time. To his dismay, after riding a particularly nice wave, he wipes out and loses sight of it as he goes under. Feeling disappointed that it hasn't washed up on the beach, he asks his friends, "Sparky" (Colton James) and "Lardo" (Ray Santiago), for help in finding it. It's then revealed that a teenager named "Brian Kramer" (Andy Fischer-Price) was last seen driving off with it to his home in the San Fernando Valley. So, with his three friends, they set out to visit Brian Kramer. Also with them are J. D.'s girlfriend "Anne" (Caitlin Wachs) and her best friend "Iris" (Allison Scagliotti), who seems to know more than she lets on. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that I didn't have high expectations for this film, and as a result, I wasn't overly disappointed after watching it. The plot was okay, and some of the actors performed reasonably well. Unfortunately, movies like this tend to rely too heavily on certain stereotypes about surfers, and this film goes too far in that regard. Likewise, for a comedy, there wasn't much humor either. That said, despite the stereotypes, I suppose the movie wasn't too bad overall, and I rated it accordingly.

This movie just goes to show you that the National Lampoon name doesn't really mean anything anymore. This feels like a low-budget TV Movie, with a simple linear story, basic acting, and a stereotypical cast. However, it isn't "awful"... it is saved by some interesting outcomes I wasn't expecting at all, and a cast that doesn't try to hard with their limited dialogue.

I don't know why they called this "Surf Party" as their is hardly any surfing, and hardly any partying. It's about a stolen surf board, and the short quest to venture from Ventura (see what I did there) into the Valley to recover it.

Since this is National Lampoon branded film, you might be expecting a lot of nudity. But this film doesn't deliver much even on that front... so you will be disappointed if that is all you seek.

Not much to recommend, really. If you're from Ventura or surrounding areas you'll see familiar sites (I enjoyed that aspect at least). However, the "Wonder Years" style of opening and closing seems to be a particularly cheesy flavor for this genre of film.