Summer of 8 (2016) Online

Summer of 8 appears to be a modern day Summer of 42 with the backdrop of a modern day Eden being the beach side world of youth and endless possibility. Most "Coming of Age" dramas include the subject matter of saying goodbye, losing ones virginity or letting go of the past in order to grow up. While Summer of 42 captures the age of innocence along with the struggle of entering adulthood, Summer of 8 falls short far from anything serious let alone entertaining. For starters, the movie cast 8 actors in their late 20's to portray a group of 18 year old recent high school graduates. Not only are most of the characters hard to keep track since all are attractive and look very similar. None of them represent a broad picture of today's youth. All are from well-to-do families since all are well dressed, well spoken and hardly have any real problems since the only issue is being young and having doubts about tomorrow. Although the premise offers a universal issue facing every generation, the cast and overall story fail to attract a large audience that would really care about any of them. The phony love scene is not only absent from the audience view but unrealistic and basically just as empty as the plot of the story. At the end of this 85 minute very slow story, the audience is left cheated, knowing that the only reason they gave this movie a chance was because of the movie's poster. The image of girls dressed in bikinis caught their eye. The limited eye candy along with 85 pages of endless dialogue and monologues makes Summer of 8 want to be taken serious but is nothing more than an empty drama.

If this was about two or three out of the eight trying to reach a benchmark before college, that could have been feasible, but all eight? That's simply contrived.

The film plays out like a feature-length Beach Boys ode to youth, but has an awareness of what's happening that people usually don't grasp until long after the time has passed.

Shame, really, the cast is appealing and seems up to the task of a lighthearted last-day-before-college day at the beach, maybe some sexual intrigue, maybe a regret or two; but these are eight actors tasked with playing one role. This film could have been about them realizing just how divergent their personalities are, now that high school is behind them.

As the title of this review suggests I believe people are missing the point of this movie. Summer of 8 might be a bit cliché at times but I think it's fully aware of that. The movie isn't just about the sexual conquests of the guys and how they just want to get laid before college; It's more than that. Summer of 8 is much more a film about exploring the small amount of time you have as a teenager; the feeling of infinity that you inevitably have to face up to when you become an adult. I really enjoyed this film, it was something that made me realise that everyone is scared of growing up and moving on from old friends isn't uncommon. I may be considered nieve for writing this review being that I'm only 17 and I don't know anything about growing up yet. Sometimes I just think the reviews of these types of movies aren't based so much on how people see them critically but more that they aren't hugely different from one another. Reviewers compare so much to other films that they don't try to understand it from a different perspective. All of the actors in Summer of 8 seemed genuine enough, and the chemistry was there. I think to really enjoy these types of movies sometimes you have to search deeper than just the surface. Sometimes trying to think through the characters is how you see what is actually there. Maybe that's just to hard for some people.

"Eight close friends soak up their last day of summer together on the beach before parting ways for college."

This must be the longest day of the year because it seems like it will never end. Summer 8 it is like a porn movie without the action part.It's a long day at the beach that moves too slow. The sun is still high in the sky and you can't see the moment for it to end.

The script is too trashy, weak and obscene.

Nonetheless, i have to congratulate the cinematographer work making not only beautiful images but more important than that is appropriate images.

This film left me wondering why it was made. A group of privileged middle-class American kids spend their last day together before separating to go to college. There is little other story, the movie meanders on with a script like a wet lettuce. I kept watching, expecting a twist, a bombshell to drop or just something interesting to happen. Sorry to say that the thing just limps on to the end with uninteresting conversation between uninteresting characters who have no depth. There's not even any friction between the characters that might add to the story. There was bit of getting off with each other towards the end but all a bit lame and only helped to re-enforce the tweeness.

I'm trying to find something positive to say about this movie but at the moment I'm just a bit too irritated at wasting 1½ hours of my time watching it. This may be for you if you are looking for an unchallenging film, where everyone is nice to each other, nothing nasty happens, there's a bit of slushy stuff and a happy ending. Perhaps middle-class Americans are able to relate to the characters and find hidden depths that just went straight over my head.