Stealing Summers

You've got to pay attention -- the lines come quickly and they're simple, direct but deeper than they first appear. A lot like Hemingway's lost generation in The Sun Also Rises, Stealing Summers shows a new generation just as lost in seeming prosperity. They have everything -- but they have nothing, and at varying levels each of the characters gets it. Sophie Auster is beautiful and plays her part just right -- a bit reminiscent of Anna Karina in Band of Outsiders, James Jagger is surprisingly good (the role is perfect for him) and Wilson Bethel is tremendous -- what talent he shows in this movie. As I said, very well written, almost poetic... the more you watch it the more there is to find. A bit slow at the start, but it's all part of the 'slow burn' that the characters and the audience feel.

What is there to say about this movie? Not a lot really. At best it is just a complete bore. It takes over an hour to get to the point and in doing so, we are taken on a muddled up journey of complete boredom with shallow characters, a script written on a piece of toilet roll. It stems around three loathsome unlikeable ex pats in Argentina who decide to steal a sum of money from the female ex pats Argentinian boyfriend. They talk about doing it, they go to the market, they talk about it, they go to a bridge, they talk about it, they go to the football ground, they talk about it, in fact that is all that happens for over one hour.

Then they carry out their "cunning plan" - which isn't cunning and isn't a plan - I won't spoil the movie for you (the director did that without my help) But to save yourself some time, watch the first ten minutes and then fast forward to the last 10 minutes and you won't have missed anything.

Even though SS is not for my boomer generation, I loved it. This movie is about a new lost generation... not lost through war like Hemingway and Joyce... but through lies and deceit and failed promises. So -- what happens to our children when they do what they're" told"... go to college... get a good degree... play be the rules... then can't find meaningful work? What happens when they know they won't ever be as prosperous as their boomer and post-boomer parents? When the bill of goods they were sold is found to be worthless?

There are so many good lines in the screenplay, I don't know where to begin.

Wilson Bethel is perfectly understated. Sophie Auster is stunning. James Jagger starts slowly, but by the movie's end he has grown into the role.

If you're looking for action - look elsewhere. If you want depth in your movie -- this is it.