Snack Shack

The first act of this film set it up to be this obnoxious buddy comedy about two scheming capitalists, but the story morphs into a brilliant portrayal of growing up over a summer.

The movie is not as funny as it would like to be at certain points, but that doesn't matter. The strength of the script is in the delivery and the characterization of the two leads and family life.

The conflict can seem a bit silly at first, but then you get it when you realize what life was like at 14. Everything matters until nothing does, and then you fall apart. These actors are admirable, and I respect the fact that they actually look like teenagers.

The script has more f-bombs than Scarface, and it gets loud and obnoxious, and that's what growing up is like. Cannot wait to see more from this director.

During 1991 in Nebraska, two friends makes money by running a snack shop with their own beer recipe along side the swimming pool during their summer holidays. Love comes in another form which really tests their relationship!!

Really loved the way this film was narrated. The director/Writer took a simple story but in the screenplay, he has really structured it well. Didn't get bored at any place. The core emotion of this film was "friendship". The writer test this relationship with love, jealousy betrayal and loss.

For a drama film like this, mainly the lead actors have to deliver their performances in such a way as to captivate the audience within the film. And yes, this film has such a crew!!. The actors who played the role of AJ and Moose have given excellent performances. They have really lived in their characters which made it even more compelling for the audience to stick to this film.

The background music was very nice. It was interesting from the first scene. But it fades a bit towards the end.

Cinematography was excellent. The scenes were interestingly shot. The work of the cinematographer is truly amazing.

Undoubtedly a good film.

Set in Nebraska City, Nebraska 1991, teenagers A. J. Carter (Conor Sherry) and his scheming friend Moose Miller (Gabriel LaBelle) try their hand at various get rich quick schemes from placing bets at off track betting parlors to brewing their own beer to sell to other high schoolers. After their parents put a stop to their questionable activities the two empty their savings accounts in order to place an exorbitant bid on the snack shack at the community pool as A. J. now has to pay back the money to avoid being sent to military school. Over the course of the summer A. J. experiences romance, tragedy, and struggle.

Snack Shack is the sophomore mainstream directorial effort of Adam Carter Rehmeier following his 2020 film Dinner in America. The film is a semi-autobiographical film with Rehmeier having based significant parts of the film off his own experience manning a pool shack in his youth. While I found the film to be an acquired tasted due to its purposefully abrasive characters, there is an unmistakable air of authenticity to the film that once I emersed myself in did win me over.

Being set at the start of the 90s, Snack Shack has an air of similar films from the decade that preceded (Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the like) or even more modern ones such as Adventureland. Both Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle give strong performances and have good chemistry as A. J. and Moose, and while their introduction doesn't initially present them as the most likable of characters it does feel true to form in that phase of brash overconfidence that adolescent boys often go through as they approach adulthood. Despite having a heavy focus on shenanigans and risky behavior the movie does also showcase the humanizing aspects of the characters particularly regarding the major milestones of first loves or an untimely tragedy that carry strong weight.

While I didn't enjoy Snack Shack as much as some similar films in this genre (such as The Way Way Back or Adventureland) I did appreciate the film for its authentic presentation that captured not only the look of its time and place but also the feel. The characters are flawed but human and there's a strong core to the movie once you get to know it beyond its slightly abrasive surface.

So when i saw the trailer of this movie i was like "WOOOAAA they dared?" Like really this movie follow well the style of the 90s. For instance the characters are portrayed as smokers and even tough i was born 85 and only made it to teen in the late 90s i do recall a lot of teenagers smoking. So this felt accurate and they were not afraid to show that yes teenagers smoked then. Never in the movie is it portrayed as "cool" or something you "have to do" and as a non smoker i never understood the point of cigarette at all, but im glad the movie kept the accuracy and was not afraid of showing it off. We should not erase history.

As for the rest, some of it was a bit over the top, like sure the 90s were more lenient, i do recall buying loto tickets for my mom at the store when i was like 10 (now its 18+) so i guess betting is also accurate but the whole making beer and such... these kids were very efficient to say the least. A lot more then i recall my friends and i ever been.

Ok ok enough of speaking if the movie is accurate or not, i think it was. It did a good job capturing the 90s.

I had a lot of fun with the romance aspect and the bro rivalry and such. Sadly in the second half the movie got a bit darker and its where it kinda loss me. Its just it happened out of nowhere and somehow shifted the dymanic of the movie.

I personally watched this as a "raunchy comedy" and was looking for a lot of "feel good". I miss these movies since the stupid woke era took on, so this look right like in my alley and for the most part it was, but then the movie decided to become more of a drama than a raunchy comedy and it just kinda came out of nowhere so it felt a bit "meh".

Without spoiling i could say the movie just dropped the ball in the last act for me and i didn't like its conclusion.

But overall i enjoyed the majority of it so i can't really say i didn't had a good time. Maybe that was the point of the director/screen writer, to make us feel uncomfortable but its not what i was looking for based on the trailer. So if the movie would had gotten an 8 out of 10 prior to this specific part, i have to lower it to a 7. And its one of those were i would even go down to 6.5 but i bump it to 7 because i feel its better than a 6.

But i was disapointed at the end to say the least. I like when movies are feel good. I like when movies give me the escapism of my boring real life. This being set in the 90s and all, even tough characters were a tad older (for today) compare to me, i was still looking for an ideal version of my teenhood. A teenhood i sadly never had.

I knew very little about this movie before sitting down to watch it, I saw a trailer a while back and made a mental note to check it out. I. So happy I decided to watch it. You can't help but enjoy the performances of the two leads, it's easy to believe that they are best friends by the camaraderie they share. Excellent job by the actors - I didn't know either of them, but can't wait to see what they do next. Their bond is the backbone of the story - along with a great per by a young lady (also unknown to me) - combined, these actors take you back to the 1990s, and revisit a slightly more innocent time. There is a lot of fun with period references, but if you don't know them you still enjoy the ride.

There is a bit a formula in the script, but really, it just plain works. I was not the only person in the audience who was laughing out loud many, many times, and then wiping aside tears at extremely moving final scenes. This movie is one that is worthy of your time - don't miss it.