User reviews

...that's a pretty accurate description of 1991's "An American Summer." When I put the DVD in my player I was kind of skeptical because I just watched the semi-sleazy and mediocre (but sorta likable) "Costa Rican Summer" (2010). I was surprised when the story and characters actually captured my attention in the first half hour.

The names of the two mid-teen protagonists -- Tom and (Huck) Fin -- tip-off that this is a modern version of Tom Sawyer, and it's not bad. I appreciate the fact that it lacks the crudeness and sleaze of too many coming-of-age flicks. It's not Disney, but it's good-hearted, fun, and dramatic when fitting.

"An American Summer" is nothing to get overly excited over, but if you're in the mood for a coming-of-age flick with beaches, surfing, fun, bad guys and misadventures look no further. Joanna Kerns of Growing Pains co-stars as Tom's aunt whom he moves-in with over the summer in the late 70s.

The film runs 100 minutes and was shot on the beaches of S. California and thereabouts.

GRADE: B-

An American Summer seems pretty stupid when you watch it. Oh god, it is so horribly trite and nauseously sentimental, it strains the eyes and ears to continue watching it. Yet, there is something entertaining about it.

The story is stupid, based on the stories of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn (it is no coincidence that the characters are named 'Tom' and 'Finn', the Tom's aunt is named 'Sally,' or that they must escape a crazy attacker much like 'Enjun Joe' in Twain's novel.

Except this turns an already lame teen film into an even more ridiculous story. Sure, Tom is sent to live with his aunt for the summer, and then makes friends with a beach local named Finn. That's cool. Finn teaches him to surf, introduces him to the local girls, and they get into a bit of trouble in that boys-will-be-boys kind of pasttime. But, then you have that part modeling 'Enjun Joe,' where Tom and Finn witness this crazy drunk stab a guy at some gas station. The way he gets away and is all nervous one night and then totally cool for the rest of the week is not only stupid, but a hard pitfall to get past, especially when you're only trying to draw up that suspense at intermittent and often annoying points of the film.

I can't tell you how lame the dialogue, nevermind the entire movie really is. But, you might find yourself willing to wade through so many of those bumps in the road if you like Brian Austin Green, Brain Krause (he plays the obnoxious life guard), Michael Landen, or movies of the late 80s/early 90s no matter how idiotic they are.

Wow,I could not disagree more with the other reviewers. This was a clean, sweet story of a pubescent summer adventure. The only weird thing is that it seems that the male actors were actually well past puberty. Their voices were pretty high and their builds very slight but the IMDb info. indicates that they were considerably older than what they were playing. Oh well. Maybe they were late bloomers in real life. I think the girls were actually a bit older than them too.

The violence, profanity, and sexuality were mild. I wouldn't recommend it to a religious Christian, but a person accustomed to the wildly violent and pornographic nature of modern films would be bored to tears.

The kid had the kind of summer that most guys that age dream of. He went to an exotic location, met new friends, learned life lessons, became a hero, fell in love, faced adversity, and conquered all.

As for the Tom Sawyer parallels...it never even entered my mind. I give others credit for noticing. But so what? Does that detract from the enjoyment? I saw it on Netflix and it frequently faded to black before plot progressions. I think the minor profanity was dubbed out too. Maybe Netflix bought it from T.V.

It was interesting to see Brian Austin Green and Michael Landes when they were so young. Joanna Kerns was a big star at that time due to her role on T.V.'s Growing Pains. The dark haired girl is a successful singer and songwriter in Nashville now.

Don't analyze the plot too closely. It's an innocent teenage, summer adventure flick with a pleasing message, an attractive setting, and appealing young actors in the early stage of their careers.

Just enjoy it. It will be especially pleasing to someone in the age bracket of the characters. But we were all there at some point.

I enjoyed the friendships and flirting. It was fun seeing Brian Krause from Charmed so young. However the music really made the movie. Wow what a great soundtrack! I liked this one.

A heart warming, funny, cute, innocent, and lovely movie. I really loved it. A must watch if you are in the mood for light hearted fun and adventure.