And Then Came Summer

Starring:Jesse Petrick, Mathieu Smith
Studio: 10% Productions
Product Type: DVD

Description

A reunion of family and friends becomes an unforgettable vacation when two teenage boys discover their secret feelings toward one another. The relationship is eventually exposed to their families, leading to denial and the questioning of self-worth for each of the boys. The exposed relationship soon brings to light that one of the boys' families is hiding a secret regarding their son.

Customer Reviews:

Beneath the Plodding Script and Lack of Editing Lies a Story Worth Telling.......2007-06-09

Jeff London wrote, directed, and produced this little Indie film, and had he assumed only one of the duties, the result would probably have been a much better movie. The running time is 115 minutes and could have easily been edited down to about 85 minutes by excluding the corniest 'homey scenes' with Aunt Lillian sharing pie recipes and girl talk that add nothing to the plot and only tire the viewer.

David (Jesse Petrick) and his little brother Ricky (Anthony J. Domingues) have traveled with their divorced father Brian (Jeff Davis) from their big city home to Brian's beach hometown to visit Aunt Lillian (Phyllis Rodenberger) for the summer. As this seemingly happy family (though broken by divorce) settles in, and Brian reunites with his old buddy Tommy (Jeremy Douglas) who has taken in his younger brother Seth (Mathieu Smith) as a favor to his family, the reason for the change of home will be revealed later. As Brian and Tommy re-bond, both having losses in their lives since their boyhood, David and Seth get to know each other and gradually discover an attraction that goes beyond friendship. After a tender and quiet kiss at night on the beach, they acknowledge their attraction, only to be betrayed by the threat young Ricky poses as he declares he will inform David's father of his brother's perversion! The boys confront their feelings with the David's father and Seth's brother and find acceptance and unconditional love from families mature enough to accept them. Seth reveals his several month's history of 'rehabilitation clinic for gays' experience which led to his moving in with his brother Tommy and the bigotry and tragedy of that event solidly bonds all of the families during the summer referenced in the title.

Much has been said about the amateur acting in this film, but for this viewer the acting on the part of the four main characters is not at all weak: the direction is flaccid and begs for focus and tightening of scenes that would have made the edited down version of this film a very moving story. An additional annoyance is the insipid music score (piano only) that breaks into 'Simple Gifts' at the most inappropriate time. But the message of acceptance of gay boys coming out is handled well and has enough original thought and subtlety to merit watching. Grady Harp, June 07

A Sincere, sweet movie.......2006-09-15

This is a great independent film that explores the effect of a young man coming to terms with his sexuality in spite of the trauma he has suffered because of his family.

An Eternity Till Fall .......2006-07-17

An Eternity Till Fall is my new title recommendation for this film, because it took an eternity until it ended - Good Grief - Low Budget Does NOT Have To Equal = Bad Film! Delete ½ of the less interesting characters in this movie (that will be a daunting task determining which ones get the axe; I would suggest the annoying ladies in the kitchen), add more sexual tension "with the coming of age ordeal" (awakening sexuality is a terrifying experience and is worth a better portrayal) and get some better actors!

I'm Sorry, but this DVD is being added to my coaster collection!

Sit out the slow parts.......2006-02-11

And there are more than a few, along with several completely unnecessary and uninteresting scenes of random characters talking about nothing. This is symptomatic of editing and screenplay weaknesses that bring into question the caliber of movie this is.

Stay in your chair, and be patient, and appreciate the effort that went into the making of this movie. The payoff near the end is significant, and goes a long way to make up for some earlier problems.

Very few movies choke me up, but this one sure hit me hard. It's worth seeing, and is probably even more powerful for folks that are a little younger than me, just really starting to come to terms with being different and what that means to them and their future.

There is also very little in this film that would be inappropriate for young people, except for alcohol use, which is foreign to probably very few.

Recommended for coming-out and family issues and gentle handling of friends and relationships, despite significant editing and screenplay imperfections. Certainly an independent movie, in any case, and one worth seeing.

Brutal.......2006-01-16

I have to agree with some of the earlier reviews - this movie is so excrutiatingly bad it should come with a warning label - Beware, no direction, no script, painful acting. I actually could not sit through this whole movie but kept jumping forward to see if it could possibly get worse. It did. Afterward, I honestly felt embarassed for everyone involved with this project. Advise to all of them - do not list this one on your resume if you want to work again. To properly rate this movie, I wish Amazon allowed us to give negative stars; or maybe little turds. As an earlier reviewer stated, we now have a bottom standard against which all bad movies can be measured.

DVD:

DVD

DVD

DVD

Target

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