26 reviews
To paraphrase another reviewer and a line from the movie's opening narration, it's as if Caddyshack and Superbad had a love child. A very funny love child...
As you watch this movie, it's easy to pick out influences from other flicks. Jonah Hill type? Check. Michael Cera type? Check, but let's go with black hair so it's not obvious. And so it goes, even including a mumbling grounds-keeper a la Caddyshack. Mind you, these are not necessarily bad things. Considering I laughed myself silly quite a few times, I won't complain.
This movie was a refreshing change from the standard fare of late. It's just a silly comedy with barely enough plot to move from scene to scene. It's not a dreary underdog saga set in a dystopian future. It's not another overwrought superhero movie with a 45 minute CGI battle scene to fill up the running time once the creators ran out of ideas. And most thankfully, it's not an angst-filled critique of relationships. It's just a funny story. I wish there were more movies like this one.
The many supporting characters were great fun. Kate Walsh and Jim Gaffigan played their parent roles to deadpan perfection. The kid from Bad Grandpa played a great straight man (straight kid?) to the totally inappropriate influences of Fred Armisen.
Don't expect too much, but do sit back and enjoy a few belly laughs. And be thankful not everybody in Hollywood has given up on making light-hearted comedies.
As you watch this movie, it's easy to pick out influences from other flicks. Jonah Hill type? Check. Michael Cera type? Check, but let's go with black hair so it's not obvious. And so it goes, even including a mumbling grounds-keeper a la Caddyshack. Mind you, these are not necessarily bad things. Considering I laughed myself silly quite a few times, I won't complain.
This movie was a refreshing change from the standard fare of late. It's just a silly comedy with barely enough plot to move from scene to scene. It's not a dreary underdog saga set in a dystopian future. It's not another overwrought superhero movie with a 45 minute CGI battle scene to fill up the running time once the creators ran out of ideas. And most thankfully, it's not an angst-filled critique of relationships. It's just a funny story. I wish there were more movies like this one.
The many supporting characters were great fun. Kate Walsh and Jim Gaffigan played their parent roles to deadpan perfection. The kid from Bad Grandpa played a great straight man (straight kid?) to the totally inappropriate influences of Fred Armisen.
Don't expect too much, but do sit back and enjoy a few belly laughs. And be thankful not everybody in Hollywood has given up on making light-hearted comedies.
- JoBloTheMovieCritic
- Jul 19, 2019
- Permalink
Staten Island Summer is a very generic teen movie. It has a cheesy plot line, a very specific audience that will enjoy it, and some humor inserted into it that some find funny, while others hate it.
It is a movie that, like nearly every other teen movie, has a character battling through his late teens. Women, sex, and friendships are all a huge part of the movie.
Regardless of all previously mentioned, I still did not find Staten Island Summer to be a bad movie. It had its moments. There were a lot of foreseeable things that you might notice very early on in the movie, but you still have some things that you might not expect. There are a couple of genuinely funny scenes, although a couple of them own a rather blunt taste of humor that at least did not make me really laugh.
For fans of teen movies, Staten Island Summer is a good choice, although there are many better. It is best described as a rather lame and not as funny version of American Pie, but some might really enjoy the humor - and some might actually find the plot to be good.
It is a movie that, like nearly every other teen movie, has a character battling through his late teens. Women, sex, and friendships are all a huge part of the movie.
Regardless of all previously mentioned, I still did not find Staten Island Summer to be a bad movie. It had its moments. There were a lot of foreseeable things that you might notice very early on in the movie, but you still have some things that you might not expect. There are a couple of genuinely funny scenes, although a couple of them own a rather blunt taste of humor that at least did not make me really laugh.
For fans of teen movies, Staten Island Summer is a good choice, although there are many better. It is best described as a rather lame and not as funny version of American Pie, but some might really enjoy the humor - and some might actually find the plot to be good.
- jessewillman
- Aug 13, 2015
- Permalink
So maybe there is a little bit of the "Project X" idea in this movie and to be precise it's no where as strong as project x but it was kind enjoyable with a handful of funny jokes despite the predictability on the story itself. Even though the idea is not that genuine but The plot is fresh the events roll in a good scale and the writing looked good, i had a couple laughs, some giggles .. i mean you gotta give it all to Colin Jost , man !! such a young talent with so much experience with "Saturday Night Live" , he surely stepped it up a lot.
As for the cast ,, mostly SNL cast plus the really funny dude Zack Pearlman , Graham Phillips form "The Good Wife" and Jackson Nicoll the kid from Jackass .. LOOOL i love his face :D so the cast are really good ,, and i think they are the ones who made the movie a bit more enjoyable... and i have to mention that their performance here is in so many levels much better than their "Balls Out(Intramural )" movie which been released last month.
Overall, the movie does not have a new surprisingly unexpected idea but the cast did one hell of a great job with somehow good written script to make it look like this.
As for the cast ,, mostly SNL cast plus the really funny dude Zack Pearlman , Graham Phillips form "The Good Wife" and Jackson Nicoll the kid from Jackass .. LOOOL i love his face :D so the cast are really good ,, and i think they are the ones who made the movie a bit more enjoyable... and i have to mention that their performance here is in so many levels much better than their "Balls Out(Intramural )" movie which been released last month.
Overall, the movie does not have a new surprisingly unexpected idea but the cast did one hell of a great job with somehow good written script to make it look like this.
- Aktham_Tashtush
- Jul 3, 2015
- Permalink
- eboogyman2
- Jul 16, 2015
- Permalink
Nothing to new here, but I did get a few good laughs out of it. There was no PC garbage and teens acted like teens act. Recommend it.
It started out quite good. The first ten minutes in, I was very interested. But then it just got lazy...the writing was sloppy and careless. The acting wasn't very good. And the plot seemed like a worse version of Superbad. I'm 21 years old, and I'm basically the target audience for a movie like this. I've enjoyed almost every other summer comedy about partying, but this one was dragged out, corny, and just overall a bad movie. Give me my 2 hours back please...? I don't recommend it.
PS- Jim Gaffigan was hilarious.
PPS- The main character was not...at all.
PS- Jim Gaffigan was hilarious.
PPS- The main character was not...at all.
- skaterprep29
- Aug 4, 2015
- Permalink
Another R rated comedy about teens that isn't over the top raunchy like American Pie and Super Bad. This film was more of a week in 2 friends lives that are moving on to college. Nothing stood out other then the solid cast. Pretty straight forward storytelling.
Well there is not much to write about Staten Island Summer. Thirty years ago I might have liked it but now I'm not a teenager anymore, not even close, so this movie is just not for me. It's not the worst thing I ever saw, it's just an average movie about kids wanting to get late for the first time and trying to throw a party to get some actions there. We've seen it all before, and even better. For teenagers this might be a good movie, because they might recognize themselves in it, but for me it doesn't do much. I thought it would be a comedy but honestly if I said I laughed twice during the entire movie I would be lying. Well, like I already said, it's not the worst thing I ever saw, but I certainly won't watch it again.
- deloudelouvain
- Dec 31, 2015
- Permalink
What I loved most about this movie is the fact that it has the feel of a teen comedy about the beach, but despite the fact that the Island has a beach, they used a pool.
It has a feel of a teen comedy, despite the fact that most of the supporting cast were around when the 80s films this movie pays homage to came out.
But the whole supporting cast was funny, being some of Saturday Night live's best new talent(Cecily Strong and Bobby Moynihan) and a few alums(Fred Armisen and Will Forte). Also being produced by the guy who created SNL, Staten Island Summer is like the big sketch they could not pull off on a sound stage.
It's the age old tale of two boys trying to spend their last summer together before college trying to get laid, but set in a place nobody would have thought to set any movie, and pulls nothing back on what the Island is all about (Even including a role for Wu Tang's Method Man, a native of Shaolin)
Absolutely funny.
It has a feel of a teen comedy, despite the fact that most of the supporting cast were around when the 80s films this movie pays homage to came out.
But the whole supporting cast was funny, being some of Saturday Night live's best new talent(Cecily Strong and Bobby Moynihan) and a few alums(Fred Armisen and Will Forte). Also being produced by the guy who created SNL, Staten Island Summer is like the big sketch they could not pull off on a sound stage.
It's the age old tale of two boys trying to spend their last summer together before college trying to get laid, but set in a place nobody would have thought to set any movie, and pulls nothing back on what the Island is all about (Even including a role for Wu Tang's Method Man, a native of Shaolin)
Absolutely funny.
- subxerogravity
- Jul 27, 2015
- Permalink
What do you get when you cross the classics Caddyshack and Superbad with Lorne Michaels producing? An unfunny movie that is not surprisingly disappointing. Has anyone done more to set comedy back 100 years than Michaels? If you are going to rip off characters from comedic genius' Ramis and Apatow then make sure you steal their jokes too. The acting is good but the premise is stale. Kate Walsh, in particular, plays a strong role as Danny's overprotective borderline neurotic mom. Beyond the acting, the writing is average. What could have been funny scenes fall short of hitting the comedic mark. Overall, I give it 3 out of 10 stars and that's being generous. If you have time rent Superbad and Caddyshack. The originals are much better versions than this poor derivative.
- gary-delcourt
- Aug 7, 2015
- Permalink
Having just gotten some very bad news from the doctors yesterday, I've been in a deep depression. I've been looking for movies to help bring me out of it. There's an awful lot of movies out there nowadays that are try-hards. Long gone are the days of Porky's and Meatballs. Once in awhile, you can find a great movie like Wet Hot American Summer, which was a blessing because they went on to have 2 small Seasons after the movie. But most movies are things like American Pie that really aren't that funny and then they go on to have a ton of sequels that just get less funny as you go. So when I saw Staten Island Summer, I very nearly flicked past it until I saw that it had Saturday Night Live alumni on it. Now I'm not familiar with any of the young actors, but there was one that played the maintenance man in this movie who I always thought was funny on SNL, so I gave it a chance. There was some spots what kind of dragged but every time it started to drag, they would drop in things like actors from The Sopranos or police officers that help them get booze because they're underage and it would just make me break out laughing! This movie is definitely what the doctor ordered!
Our main protagonist is the young man who's graduating high school and going on to college at Harvard, while his best friend is staying home with his parents. These two have worked as lifeguards at this really beautiful pool as soon as they were old enough to work and they've been swimming there all of their lives! So this is the last hurrah, and all of the lifeguards collectively being the same age one of the other ones is about to join the Navy, they decide that that closing weekend they were going to have a staff party. However the guy who is the manager is just a despicable human being just awful sexually harassing the guests to the pool, putting a out of order sign on a bathroom stall so he can have his own personal shall we say make out space for only himself. And he is taken the keys to the entire pool and they have to get those keys in order to have the party. So I'm not going to give you any spoilers because I really want you to watch this movie but I'm going to get into the positives and negatives.
The positives are definitely the acting. Everybody was very believable. It was thoroughly enjoyable the actors were very well cast! The script was GREAT! Other than a couple spots where things kind of slowed down, it was VERY well written, and I think most people who grew up in the 80's & 90's could identify with this at least in part! Camera work was great, I could find no flaws! For the negatives, I really can't say, other than a couple slow spots, because it was so thoroughly enjoyable that I didn't see any other negatives! OOOH! I SHOULD mention, this ISN'T family friendly, even though there ARE kids in it! There's A LOT of dirty jokes, sexual situations, and at least 1 topless female that I remember!
So, if you are looking for something to make you laugh, forget your troubles, and the kids aren't around, THIS is the movie for you!!!
Our main protagonist is the young man who's graduating high school and going on to college at Harvard, while his best friend is staying home with his parents. These two have worked as lifeguards at this really beautiful pool as soon as they were old enough to work and they've been swimming there all of their lives! So this is the last hurrah, and all of the lifeguards collectively being the same age one of the other ones is about to join the Navy, they decide that that closing weekend they were going to have a staff party. However the guy who is the manager is just a despicable human being just awful sexually harassing the guests to the pool, putting a out of order sign on a bathroom stall so he can have his own personal shall we say make out space for only himself. And he is taken the keys to the entire pool and they have to get those keys in order to have the party. So I'm not going to give you any spoilers because I really want you to watch this movie but I'm going to get into the positives and negatives.
The positives are definitely the acting. Everybody was very believable. It was thoroughly enjoyable the actors were very well cast! The script was GREAT! Other than a couple spots where things kind of slowed down, it was VERY well written, and I think most people who grew up in the 80's & 90's could identify with this at least in part! Camera work was great, I could find no flaws! For the negatives, I really can't say, other than a couple slow spots, because it was so thoroughly enjoyable that I didn't see any other negatives! OOOH! I SHOULD mention, this ISN'T family friendly, even though there ARE kids in it! There's A LOT of dirty jokes, sexual situations, and at least 1 topless female that I remember!
So, if you are looking for something to make you laugh, forget your troubles, and the kids aren't around, THIS is the movie for you!!!
Maureen Donohue is really lucky she stopped watching after 15 minutes. This is probably the worst teen comedy I've ever seen. It's filled with ridiculous plot devices that are just plain stupid without any redeeming humor, such as the handyman using jet fuel to destroy a hornet's nest. Another unfortunate aspect is that it may encourage dangerously irresponsible behavior among teenagers who watch it and think it reflects how a teenager behaves to be considered cool or to attract the opposite sex. But the movie isn't just stupid and not very funny. It's also quite offensive. The scene with the ice cream truck driver swearing vociferously in front of a group of small children was completely unnecessary. It did not advance the story in any way, and if this were happening in real life, somebody would be calling the police. The most offensive aspect of the movie is reserved for it's implication that it's normal behavior for a boy in the third grade to dry hump whatever is handy while fantasizing about diddling his babysitter. Who is the lame-brained sicko who wrote the script, I wondered. Was I ever shocked to discover it's the head writer for SNL, Colin Jost, who has won numerous awards. He seems to be a few bricks short of a load when it comes to sexual intelligence, and I'm referring to the overall depiction of boy-girl relations in the movie, not just the particular scene I mentioned. After seeing the movie, I wasn't surprised to discover that he names Norm McDonald as a primary influence for his stint on Weekend Update. McDonald was by far the worst ever on Weekend Update in the history of the show, at least up to Seth Myers (haven't seen it since). In fact, McDonald was so bad that it was irritating to have to sit through Weekend Update before seeing the rest of the show. That Jost thinks McDonald was so great is just weird. Maureen is no longer enamored with Animal House. But, believe me, you're way better off watching Animal House again than wasting your time on this piece of garbage, especially disappointing since it has a number of SNLers in the cast.
- georgeritmeester
- Aug 7, 2015
- Permalink
I watched this movie because it had so many cast members from snl, a great comedy show, and was written by an snl member. It was not a very good movie, I only stuck around because I liked seeing the actors. I'm 14 so I'm a bit on the young side of the target audience, but I know I wouldn't have enjoyed it more if I were older. It's super cliché and even more predictable. But if you don't have anything to do, and you want to see snl actors Bobby Moynihan, Fred Armisten, Kate McKinnon, Cecily Strong, Mike O'Brien, and Colin Jost be silly together outside of late night television, then watch it. It's a good movie for when you're bored or need I waste time.
Very dumb story,cast was good but bad script,not good enough comedy for comedy genre movie.
- jawedqureshi-36052
- Aug 12, 2018
- Permalink
Just another silly teenage sex and drug movie. Enough SNL stars to bring some humor to it. And thank god for leaving Seth Rogan out of it. It was worth a few laughs.
And make a horrible clone!
Horrible writing, pointless scenes and just plain plagiarism.
Couple kids that look like Michael Cera And Jona Hill: check.
Friends are having beef because one is going of to college and the other is a dumbass: check.
A lot party scenes that make no sense: check.
Female love interest that appear unreachable but at the end somehow they get: check.
Friends are desperate virgins: check.
Couple of looney cops like Bill Hader and Seth Rogen: check.
The only saving grace is Fred Armisen, the character he plays is truly naturally funny.
Should have called it "trying so hard to be super bad" the movie. Who knew Colin Jost was such a hack writer.
Horrible writing, pointless scenes and just plain plagiarism.
Couple kids that look like Michael Cera And Jona Hill: check.
Friends are having beef because one is going of to college and the other is a dumbass: check.
A lot party scenes that make no sense: check.
Female love interest that appear unreachable but at the end somehow they get: check.
Friends are desperate virgins: check.
Couple of looney cops like Bill Hader and Seth Rogen: check.
The only saving grace is Fred Armisen, the character he plays is truly naturally funny.
Should have called it "trying so hard to be super bad" the movie. Who knew Colin Jost was such a hack writer.
Lorne Michaels' career past his prime and his most recognized comedies has actually been better, in my opinion, than when his name was stamped on nearly every mainstream comedy that was released in theaters. Michaels is known for being the producer on films such as Wayne's World, The Ladies Man, and A Night at the Roxbury, all films having some relations to Saturday Night Live. In the 1990's, Michaels was one of the biggest names in comedy and his films were largely feature-length sketches from Saturday Night Live featuring characters recognizable on a nationwide scale.
Michaels' career in the present day, to me, has been a lot more watchable than films like Coneheads or A Night at the Roxbury ever were. From films like Hot Rod, The Guilt Trip, and now Staten Island Summer, which have shifted from the idea of trying to take the charm and humor of a five minute sketch and extend it into a film has long passed, he and his team of writers, directors, and actors have found fun, often overblown comic scenarios to pleasantly play with and incorporate into a film that hits all the bases of a fun, basic comedy in a sea where far too little are seen anymore.
Staten Island Summer, Michaels' latest endeavor, released on video-on-demand platforms and eventually Netflix, a potentially telling sign of where his kinds of films are headed in the future, is yet another film portraying the local water park as the haven for lust, romance, lasting friendships, and coming of age turmoil. Much like The Way, Way Back, or even Adventureland, despite taking place at a theme park, this film shows life as a lifeguard at a waterpark as the most breezy and carefree existence that can fulfill a young teenager and supply him with fast food and cell phone money. Characters, lifeguards or maintenance crew, are shown doing so little work that it makes teenagers on shows like Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide look like workaholic, Ivy League kids instead of teenagers meandering around several stories of a middle school looking for purpose.
Nevermind that, however, for this is not a film where complete and total realism exists. We follow Danny (Graham Phillips), your average teenager, living in Staten Island and working at this fabled waterpark to make some extra pocket money. His coworkers are what make his job "the best job in the world," so he claims: there's his best friend Frank (Zack Pearlman), the roly-poly voice of reason, Anthony (John DeLuca), the best looking lifeguard who only seems to win over the hearts of Chardonnay-sipping, middle-aged women (I can relate), particularly Gina Gershon, Mary Ellen (Cecily Strong), a sarcastic, tomboyish woman who provides the most laughs and quips, and "Skootch" (Bobby Moynihan), the only soul at the waterpark not working a summer job, but rather, a career where he comes to work late and under the influence of marijuana more often than not. Their boss is the quirky and dictative Chuck (Saturday Night Live's own Mike O'Brien), who tries to put a damper on the group's fun by expelling the idea of throwing a staff party if he's not invited to it. Nonetheless, the gang of misfits work to assemble the best staff party possible, without his knowledge, complete with alcohol supplied by police officers, marijuana supplied by local ice cream truck drivers, and women supplied by the local pool.
This is where Krystal Manicucci (Ashley Greene) comes in, a character so significant to the plot that she's the only one with a first and last name. Krystal is the most jaw-droppingly beautiful woman on Staten Island, but her father (Vincent Pastore) is the brutal and unrelenting force of the Italian mafia who is overprotective of his own, especially his daughter. Danny, despite the strange little albatross of having once had Krystal as a babysitter, wants to find a way to win the attraction of her before summer is up.
A great scene about place in the teenage social class occurs between both Danny and Krystal in the film Staten Island Summer, and it starts when the two are alone. Danny tells Krystal, despite finally achieving long-desired alone time between the two, that he is the kind of guy she'd marry but not kiss. Krystal, on the other hand, reveals to Danny that she thinks she's the kind of girl he'd kiss but not marry. This is a scene that perfectly defines lust in an unconventional and emotionally honest way. It's also scenes like that which buoy Staten Island Summer from the drudgery of teen movie conventions into something a tad bit more significant. Like lust itself, this is a film that's redirects our attention on something slight, but ostensibly very meaningful at the time, before pulling back to reveal its character and realize that it's not at deep as it seems, but it's great eye candy.
Of course, there are issues present in the film. For one, the obligatory scene where the characters begin to fight, bicker, and break off to do a bit of moaning is wholly contrived and unwarranted. This is where writer Colin Jost (who also plays the rowdy police officer) deviates into convention rather than sticking to his guns, supplying the film with the strong amount of wit he's found in the story.
Yet Staten Island Summer, as stated, supplies its story with a great amount of wit and humor, in the broad, but also charming and light-hearted form that I rarely tire of; it's not too slight to be forgettable, yet it's not too thick and raunchy to be a desperate turn-off. This is a strong and notable effort, especially for a producer who is really hitting high points when few seem to be paying attention.
Michaels' career in the present day, to me, has been a lot more watchable than films like Coneheads or A Night at the Roxbury ever were. From films like Hot Rod, The Guilt Trip, and now Staten Island Summer, which have shifted from the idea of trying to take the charm and humor of a five minute sketch and extend it into a film has long passed, he and his team of writers, directors, and actors have found fun, often overblown comic scenarios to pleasantly play with and incorporate into a film that hits all the bases of a fun, basic comedy in a sea where far too little are seen anymore.
Staten Island Summer, Michaels' latest endeavor, released on video-on-demand platforms and eventually Netflix, a potentially telling sign of where his kinds of films are headed in the future, is yet another film portraying the local water park as the haven for lust, romance, lasting friendships, and coming of age turmoil. Much like The Way, Way Back, or even Adventureland, despite taking place at a theme park, this film shows life as a lifeguard at a waterpark as the most breezy and carefree existence that can fulfill a young teenager and supply him with fast food and cell phone money. Characters, lifeguards or maintenance crew, are shown doing so little work that it makes teenagers on shows like Ned's Declassified School Survival Guide look like workaholic, Ivy League kids instead of teenagers meandering around several stories of a middle school looking for purpose.
Nevermind that, however, for this is not a film where complete and total realism exists. We follow Danny (Graham Phillips), your average teenager, living in Staten Island and working at this fabled waterpark to make some extra pocket money. His coworkers are what make his job "the best job in the world," so he claims: there's his best friend Frank (Zack Pearlman), the roly-poly voice of reason, Anthony (John DeLuca), the best looking lifeguard who only seems to win over the hearts of Chardonnay-sipping, middle-aged women (I can relate), particularly Gina Gershon, Mary Ellen (Cecily Strong), a sarcastic, tomboyish woman who provides the most laughs and quips, and "Skootch" (Bobby Moynihan), the only soul at the waterpark not working a summer job, but rather, a career where he comes to work late and under the influence of marijuana more often than not. Their boss is the quirky and dictative Chuck (Saturday Night Live's own Mike O'Brien), who tries to put a damper on the group's fun by expelling the idea of throwing a staff party if he's not invited to it. Nonetheless, the gang of misfits work to assemble the best staff party possible, without his knowledge, complete with alcohol supplied by police officers, marijuana supplied by local ice cream truck drivers, and women supplied by the local pool.
This is where Krystal Manicucci (Ashley Greene) comes in, a character so significant to the plot that she's the only one with a first and last name. Krystal is the most jaw-droppingly beautiful woman on Staten Island, but her father (Vincent Pastore) is the brutal and unrelenting force of the Italian mafia who is overprotective of his own, especially his daughter. Danny, despite the strange little albatross of having once had Krystal as a babysitter, wants to find a way to win the attraction of her before summer is up.
A great scene about place in the teenage social class occurs between both Danny and Krystal in the film Staten Island Summer, and it starts when the two are alone. Danny tells Krystal, despite finally achieving long-desired alone time between the two, that he is the kind of guy she'd marry but not kiss. Krystal, on the other hand, reveals to Danny that she thinks she's the kind of girl he'd kiss but not marry. This is a scene that perfectly defines lust in an unconventional and emotionally honest way. It's also scenes like that which buoy Staten Island Summer from the drudgery of teen movie conventions into something a tad bit more significant. Like lust itself, this is a film that's redirects our attention on something slight, but ostensibly very meaningful at the time, before pulling back to reveal its character and realize that it's not at deep as it seems, but it's great eye candy.
Of course, there are issues present in the film. For one, the obligatory scene where the characters begin to fight, bicker, and break off to do a bit of moaning is wholly contrived and unwarranted. This is where writer Colin Jost (who also plays the rowdy police officer) deviates into convention rather than sticking to his guns, supplying the film with the strong amount of wit he's found in the story.
Yet Staten Island Summer, as stated, supplies its story with a great amount of wit and humor, in the broad, but also charming and light-hearted form that I rarely tire of; it's not too slight to be forgettable, yet it's not too thick and raunchy to be a desperate turn-off. This is a strong and notable effort, especially for a producer who is really hitting high points when few seem to be paying attention.
- StevePulaski
- Aug 17, 2015
- Permalink
Danny Campbell (Graham Phillips) recounts his last summer on Staten Island before going off to Harvard. He's a summer lifeguard at the kiddie pool with his best friend Frank Gomes (Zack Pearlman). Neither has any luck with girls. Slacker veteran Skootch, tough Mary Ellen, and idiot Anthony are the other lifeguards at the neighborhood pool. Victor is the crazy handyman. Chuck is the hated manager. Then Danny's former babysitter Krystal Manicucci (Ashley Greene) shows up at the pool followed by her overprotective mob boss father.
This is SNL trying to do Superbad. It doesn't really work and the comedy mostly falls flat. I don't think SNL can do nostalgic coming-of-age movie. This could work with sincerity and SNL has non in its bones. This could also try to work as a spoof of such movies and that's what The Lonely Island would do. This tries to split the difference and fails to be either. The lead and his chubby friend are perfectly cast. Mary Ellen and Anthony are fine. It's time that Ashley Greene try a different role or maybe she is trapped by her assets. The others are too SNL. Overall, there are aspects that I like but the whole does not add up.
This is SNL trying to do Superbad. It doesn't really work and the comedy mostly falls flat. I don't think SNL can do nostalgic coming-of-age movie. This could work with sincerity and SNL has non in its bones. This could also try to work as a spoof of such movies and that's what The Lonely Island would do. This tries to split the difference and fails to be either. The lead and his chubby friend are perfectly cast. Mary Ellen and Anthony are fine. It's time that Ashley Greene try a different role or maybe she is trapped by her assets. The others are too SNL. Overall, there are aspects that I like but the whole does not add up.
- SnoopyStyle
- Jun 25, 2019
- Permalink
This was not that bad of a movie. I liked that not all the characters were hypersexual and still had some innocence about them. I thought that having the main character getting ready to go to Harvard was a little overkill (just COLLEGE would have been enough), but then I read that writer Colin Jost went to Harvard and also grew up on Staten Island, so I presume this is an autobiographical hyperbole of his experience. His actual brother plays his police partner in the movie. I enjoyed seeing Fred Armison, Cecily Strong, Jim Gaffigan and some other familiar faces. The little kids added some sweetness. I personally don't relate to the weed jokes, but alcohol, yes. Mike O'Brien's character is reminiscent of Mr. Rooney in Ferris Buehler's Day Off. Will Forte also makes a memorable appearance.
- saintgeneveive
- Aug 26, 2016
- Permalink
- nogodnomasters
- Jan 10, 2018
- Permalink
- wycherleyp-960-470658
- Jul 6, 2015
- Permalink
I have lived on Staten Island for over 40 years and am sick of Staten Island being depicted in this way. I couldn't even watch more than the first 15 minutes before turning it off. First of all the pool is supposed to be in Great Kills at their club which is expensive and maybe filled with some dunces but not the type of dunces depicted. That area is high income white and those people would not like this stereo type which does fit a great number of Staten Islanders and New Jersey types. The types depicted are lower income blue collar workers and even though Great Kills has some of the latter the club prides itself on being above all that and is much too expensive for me or my family to have ever attended. Second what is funny about a bunch of clueless teens spending their aimless summers trying to get laid and have fun preening muscles at idiot girls and cannon balling into the pool in totally irresponsible fashion. (Even at our city pool which is lovely this behavior is not tolerated.) It's all been done before and better. The days of Animal House being amusing are over. There are tons of other types both here and in New Jersey (a state of which I as a New Yorker do not have a special fondness) who have complex intelligent lives. If this was even slightly amusing I might have continue to watch but other than showing that some of the neighborhoods and beach are often overlooked in their beauty I was completely repelled. I live on the opposite shore depicted in the film (North Shore) but I am sure that those on the South Shore might also not find this film to their taste.
- mdonohue-39735
- Aug 2, 2015
- Permalink
Staten Island Summer finds recent high school graduates Graham Phillips and
Zack Pearlman are on a quest that summer. Both are lifeguards at the Great
Kills Beach Club there and both want to get themselves laid before they leave
for college and whatever other future they might have. For Phillips it's the best
kind of future, it's Harvard. But first pleasure before business.
They also want to have one big blowout of a party at the club, but their boss Michael Patrick O'Brien is determined not to have one there. The kids and most of the adults think O'Brien is an idiot, still he's the boss.
Nothing to out of the ordinary for the usual teen sex comedy. In fact the film is shot in Staten Island and at the Great Kills Beach Club.
When you come right down to it, it's one long commercial for the club.
They also want to have one big blowout of a party at the club, but their boss Michael Patrick O'Brien is determined not to have one there. The kids and most of the adults think O'Brien is an idiot, still he's the boss.
Nothing to out of the ordinary for the usual teen sex comedy. In fact the film is shot in Staten Island and at the Great Kills Beach Club.
When you come right down to it, it's one long commercial for the club.
- bkoganbing
- Jul 2, 2018
- Permalink
If you take couple hot guys as an actors to the movie they won't make boring(cringe) to funny comedy.
- Edvis-1997
- Dec 5, 2018
- Permalink