Ping Pong Summer

The premise was great. Having grown up in the 80's, when I saw the description I had to watch this movie. The first five minutes really got my hopes up. I love nostalgia and the film was spot on as the director shot it through a mid 80's camera lens. Except for the 1989 police car, (horrible choice) everything was authentic for the most part. But the plot was too formulaic. Too many movie clichés. However, there were some funny moments. This film is only worth watching due to the fact that there's a shortage of new 80's nostalgia films like this. Because it's seen through the eyes of a young teen male, it might only be enjoyable for a guy in his forties today as he might be able to reminisce of his 80's childhood through the film.

This film is weird: deeply original under many respects and unbelievably ordinary under others.

It's the story of a young boy who is initiated to tennis table (and to love) during a summer vacation with his family. The estranging atmosphere of the 80s is depicted very well and the everyday life of a boy from a family with no means is also rendered in a surprisingly realistic way for a comedy.

Everything is nice and funny until you realize that you are watching the most predictable and clichéd plot you can imagine. This will not completely spoil the thing for you but will leave you at least surprised: so many ideas (starting from the head titles in three different styles) and such a poor ending.

Visual stuff, characters and dialogues, however, are too good to shoot this film down.

One's impression while watching this film is fairly mixed: there were many parts that made it funnier than the typical Hollywood Asian rip-off (intentionally so) which kept me interested in the film. Furthermore, the acting is not as bad as typical of this genre, and I found some of the characters especially expressive and entertaining.

However, the fault of the film is that it falls victim to many of the errors of US rips on Japanese cinema: the quality being grainy and questionable, the simplicity of the plot and having shocking simplicity in the archetypes of good & evil, and furthermore, being overall rather corny.

But if you can stand for a typical "re-imagined" B movie, this is not so bad; I found it entertaining and its' pong scenes were not very shabby, either. And furthermore, the film did not fall victim to any ridiculous subplot or added Twilight-esque love-stories, nor was it ruined by an overwhelming personality clogging up the story, which can easily kill other films. For what they have, a decent film. If you see it for what it is, it is not hard to watch and enjoy it. Decent for anybody who has an attachment to the genre.

PPS is a homage to the 80s through and through - care has been taken with the usual wardrobe and hair, but more than that it has tried to capture something of both the mannerisms and the film style of the 80s.

The film has both a John Hughes' summer of coming of age vibe and even a touch of Napolean Dynamite in the family's relatives. It also pays more than a nod to the Eighties style of sports' movies, here through a ping pong game against the local bully rich kid.

All in all, this has more style than substance, but it well put together with an excellent cast. It will appeal ti a wide audience of those who remember the Eighties and to those who like the idea of the Eighties. It's a fun watch and a good film to share with friends.

Let's be honest, this is a terrible movie. What an odd mix of veteran actors (Susan Sarandon, Leah Thompson etc.) quite literally smashing up against terrible novices like the lead character's sidekick, Myles Massey. I continue to be amazed that people are actually paid to cast movies and they come up with bad actors all the time. The sidekick role is crucial here, yet they choose a kid who can't act. Go figure. Watching Sarandon, John Hannah and Leah Thompson attempt to add some flow to the movie while working with terrible actors reminds me of Natalie Portman struggling with Robot Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. I guess it has something to do with movie budget; perhaps they ran out of money after paying Sarandon, Hannah and Thompson.

Every once it awhile we see some promise, as when Rad and his family visit his Aunt and her husband. Amy Sedaris and Robert Longstreet show how it's done and provide a hint of what the movie might have been. Also Rad's sister was more than adequate in her role.

All this aside, the movie does well with costumes and general 1980s era eastern shore vibe, that's about it. The pacing is excruciating as we wait for lead character Rad to meet up with Susan Sarandon and when he finally does, it's almost a throwaway scene and before you know it we're (mercifully) at the finish line.

If the director was attempting some sort of filmmaking homage, I missed it completely. So much more could have been done for the eastern shore/Ocean City in a movie like this. I'm being brutally honest when I say that all during the movie I kept thinking how I could have rounded up some buddies and a mini HD camera and done a much better job. I kid you not. It's that bad.