Summer '03 (2018) Poster

(2018)

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7/10
Realistic and true
JShaft3317 June 2019
One of the most real descriptions of what teenage girls go through during a pivotal summer. Raging hormones, rebellious acting out. The brother Dylan was also hilarious. If there was one thing that seemed slightly less realistic it was the fact that it was so easy for high school students to get alcohol. The language might be off putting for some of the more prudish however this is how a lot of high school girls talk whether you want to admit it or not.
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7/10
Joey King Just Got a New Fan
moviebuffchick7 April 2018
As a movie buff, I've seen Joey King around enough to know who she was before walking into this movie. But THIS role was seemingly made for her. From beginning to end, she did a phenomenal job.... effortlessly portraying Jamie.... a 16y/o girl whose rather blunt... (or RUDE - depending on how you look at it) grandmother revealed quite a few "family secrets" on her deathbed. A couple of which sent this otherwise normal family spinning out of control.

Various coming of age themes were explored (love, loss, virginity, sex positivity, friendship, growth, overcoming fears, fights with parents & friends, unforgettable summers, etc) with just a little more bluntness and vulgarity than you might be used to... particularly coming from a female protagonist (this was a good thing... trust me).

The entire cast was awesome... they had great chemistry and there were several scenes that you could tell they had a lot of fun filming together. This was a great coming of age film that I enjoyed much more than I could've possibly imagined. Great job to writer/director Becca Gleason... she nailed this one!
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6/10
Another coming-of-age within a dysfunctional family
paul-allaer11 October 2018
"Summer '03" (2018 release; 95 min.) brings the story of Jamie, a 15 or 16 yr. old high school student in Cincinnati, and her family. As the movie opens, after a voice -over with summer thoughts ("summer is a generic string of happy memories"), we find Jamie sitting by her grandma in the hospital. In her last moments, grandma divulges several family secrets to Jamie, and then to her dad. It leaves the family bewildered. Following grandma's death, Jamie stops by a catholic church, where she meets Luke. He is about to be ordained into the priesthood later in the week, but the two hit it off immediately... At this point we are 10 min. into the movie but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out,

Couple of comments: this is written and directed by up-and-coming Becca Gleason, who graduated in 2006 from Indian High School here in Cincinnati (where I live). While there are a number of spoken references (including to "St.X', which would be St. Xavier, the all-boys Jesuit high school), don't look for any Cincinnati landmarks (the movie was filmed in Georgia). Gleason brings a familiar theme, a conflicted girl coming-of-age in a dysfunctional family (and I'm being mild). The movie is helped by the charming lead performance of Joey King as Jamie. But that's really about it. There are too many scenes that have a 'done by the numbers" feeling. And the yelling! It seems Jamie's parents are, literally, yelling throughout the movie. I can't help but compare this to another recent coming of age movie, the brilliant "Eighth Grade", which outshines "Summer '03" by a mile or two and on every level.

"Summer '03" opened last weekend at my local art-house theater here in Cincinnati. The Wednesday early evening screening where I saw this at turned out to be a private screening, as in: I literally was the only person in the theater. I honestly can't see this playing in theaters very long. If you are interested in coming-of-age movies, and you keep your expectations in check, I'd suggest you seek out "Summer '03", be it in the theater (not very likely at this point), on VOD, or eventually on DVD/Blu-ray, and draw your own conclusion.
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It was an eventful summer for 16-yr-old Jamie.
TxMike12 May 2019
I managed to watch this on Amazon streaming movies.

I had seen Joey King in a couple of other movies and find that she is a very interesting young actress, probably 18 or 19 during making of this movie. As the movie begins her voice-over states how forgettable summers tend to be. But not this one, the summer of 2003 when her old grandmother died.

She plays the role of 16-yr-old Jamie Winkle who is still a mostly good student and obedient daughter. But she happens to be at her grandmother's hospital bed when she dies, but not before revealing a series of "secrets" that she had been holding. This new information throws several things in complete disarray, and that makes 2003 memorable.

My only disappointment with the movie is that it closely follows the current trend in "teen" movies, the script is pretty well filled with filthy language and more sex and sex talk than is needed to tell this story. It muddies the main story which has family members reevaluate their relationships, and young Jamie learning about sex in mostly the wrong ways.

It could have been a much better movie.
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6/10
a few laughs in coming of age comedy
SnoopyStyle12 January 2019
It's the summer of 2003. Jamie Winkle (Joey King) and her family are sent into chaos when her dying grandmother Dotty (June Squibb) unveils a series of revelations. Baby Jamie had been baptized by Dotty without telling her Jewish mother Shira (Andrea Savage). Jamie is taken with Luke who is training to be a priest. March has an unrequited crush on her. Her best friend Emily is a fast girl from L.A.

This is a relatively standard coming of age dysfunctional family comedies about a hormone filled teen. This one is about a girl which comes with its own issues. I struggle with Jamie's likeability. She's struggling to know right from wrong and sex and all the big questions. Joey King is a hot girl looking for sex. It's never quite as funny as a geeky guy desperately trying to lose his virginity. Guys look stupid and the audience laugh at them. It's tougher to make girls struggle to have sex. The best that can be achieved is the girls having bad sex and Jamie isn't even doing that. There are still laughs to be had in this movie but whoever this Becca Gleason is, she has to figure out how to get more humor out of her comedies.
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7/10
A nostalgic and refreshingly honest movie
tdh_fbi31 January 2022
"Summer '03" is a very funny and very honest movie starring the very lovely and talented Joey King as Jamie. This movie's titular year and setting were very nostalgic for me in particular, as I was in my teens and starting high school back in 2003. Therefore, I found this very relatable, which added to my overall enjoyment.

One of this movie's strong points was its honest depictions of various things. Its demonstration of the fact that, while Jamie was very smart and caring, she still left some space open in her life to openly explore and partake in her sexuality is a very real and honest thing that teenagers do (and let's face it, have done for years), and I applaud the writers and filmmaker for including these elements in the story.

Another very real element was Jamie's struggle to find balance among her family dysfunction, religious interest, and her love/sex life. Balance is a hard thing to achieve for anybody of any age or background, so the demonstration of this struggle in a movie like this made it even more enjoyable in my opinion.

All in all, "Summer '03" is definitely worth a watch, and Joey King's lead portrayal is excellent.
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3/10
Not a comedy
bweber613 January 2019
I don't remember laughing once. Good acting, bad story.
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7/10
A TRUE INDIE FILM!
jeepyjb1 March 2020
Came across this little gem looking through IMDb and saw it was free on Prime. Set in 2003 it truly feels like an indie film from the 90s/00s. Camera work, soundtrack, great teen angst, and a solid cast of people that have been in a lot of good stuff in recent years. Characters are solid, acting is effortless, and the themes are relatable. You could pick much worse fare.
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4/10
Hard to know what to make of this
name99-92-54538922 February 2020
Warning: Spoilers
On the plus side, Joey King and Andrea Savage are both lovely. But on the negative side, the story is, to be honest, horrific, and worse is that the director doesn't even seem to get that.

The secret to a teenage sex comedy (which is what this appears to be going for) is to understand that everyone at that age is dumb but not malicious, and to set up an unreal environment where dumb behavior has no real consequences. Break those rules and you have a weird mishmash of sex-comedy+tragedy, and no-one wants that.

The problem we have here is that the director doesn't follow these rules, but even worse, doesn't even understand that she is breaking them. She seems to treat the whole "Luke is a trainee priest" issue as a temporary affectation, like Summer 03 he's trying out being a goth, and Summer 04 he'll try out being a jock. I'm not a Catholic or religious, but I'm sensitive enough to get that someone trying for the priesthood is making a big commitment in his life, and for someone to just dismiss that, seduce him, treat him as a sex toy, then have the nerve to get mad when he concludes that he made a mistake, that God means more to him, then to go on to gleefully ruin his life? Seriously, WTF? How can we like a character like that? And how can we treat is as a comedy, that this guy, even apart from the issues he will have with the Seminary, will probably be haunted by guilt for the rest of his life?

Ultimately it's a really strange movie. It could so easily have been a reasonably well-structured standard teenage sex com. Just write the guy love interest, the Luke character as, whatever: a foreign exchange student, a rich kid from another school, a nerd (but one who loves Science Fiction and thinks Harry Potter sucks), so many options with comedic potential without "destroying the rest of his life with guilt and rumors" consequences for the guy...

So why didn't she choose these. Did Ms Gleason seriously not see the implications in her story (and likewise not one single other person involved in this project at an early stage)? Or, even scarier, was she well aware of the implications, and happy to throw them in as some sort of weird FU to men in general, or maybe the Catholic Church in particular?
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7/10
Love It or Hate It
liznync28 July 2019
Not sure why this got so many awful reviews. Even if you hate the storyline (especially if you're uptight and bothered by teen sexuality theme), the acting is really good. Joey King is perfect for her role as a awkward struggling teen and June Squibb, as the homophobic anti-Semitic, absolutely steals the few crucial scenes she's in.
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1/10
Perpetuating rape culture
dmb-2633420 February 2022
It was marketed as a comedy, but was mostly just about a stuatory rape with the main character (16) getting with a soon to be ordained priest (25) with no outrage or any consequences for him... because rape culture... if I would have known this was what the main plot was going to be about I would not have watched it, especially with my daughter. Saw the actress and knew we liked her. So disappointed....
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9/10
If you were a teen in the 2000's, you'll probably like it...
Kaygee90627 June 2019
I don't know why this film has such horrible reviews. I think it's a very relatable film. I watched the movie without looking at reviews prior to watching and I'm glad I did that otherwise I wouldn't have given the film the time of day. The film portrays a teen who doesn't know exactly what she wants in life or who she wants to be as a person. She struggles with controlling her emotions, and personal relationships while figuring out societal rules and how to be independent. I was 16 in 2006 and I acted very similar to the character, Jaime. Rebelling, using swear words, trying alcohol, being put in sexual situations, it's reminiscent of my teens. If I could NOT relate to the main character, I might think that the film is trashy, due to the language and sexual situations. However, I feel it did a great job at portraying how real teens behave.
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6/10
A Modern Take on an Old Story That Doesn't Quite Make It
versalle8814 May 2019
Good performances. And a few gems, both comedic and dramatic. But ultimately, it feels not quite there. Not exactly an original story, and the parts that stand out feel forced, meandering. Bonus point for casting Paul Scheer.

6 out of 10 stars
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2/10
I wanted to like it, but it was so so bad
anisha-lg22 June 2019
Character development was extremely poor, I couldn't see how Jaime's actions progressed to the extreme in such a short time. Also the fact that all her friends turned on her in a snap is not believable. I love all of these actors and wanted so badly to like this movie. But it was crap. I also noticed that they tried really hard to capture the fashion of 2003 but failed miserably. They pretty much just decided to go with 1997 fashion and decided meh close enough.
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Engaging and enjoyable
Gordon-1128 February 2020
The story is surprisingly engaging! The protagonist is rebellious but she is really likable. I can relate to her situation and her feelings. The story telling is great as well. I really enjoyed this light hearted coming of age comedy.
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6/10
Not bad, not good. Not regretting the time I spent
MauritiusVonMailand6 August 2019
Not a comedy, not a drama. That's fine because the movie, as the life, is more complex than placing into a single category would otherwise imply. Do not expect any laught (comedy) or tears/anger (drama). This is a mix btwn a coming-of-age story and living in a, somehow, dysfunctional family (dysfunctional because of grandma last words). The tone is that of a comedy, I would say a rated comedy, the content is (supposed to be) more serious. I loved the work done by Joey King (Jamie), not so much the character she played, a self-centered girl. However who would ever like the way a teen behaves or think when he/she is in the middle of the hormonal storm and in the phase of finding herself as an adult; indeed, most of the time, you cannot even stand your beloved kids when in that phase, so not loving Jamie is understandable. Nothing to say about the other characters/actors. They are either dull, not quite convincing or just poorly written. You can watch it and forget but not regret.

BTW. I read some comments claiming that the movie content is anti-semitic. No way it is (see the producers)!!! Quite the opposite indeed. Catholics (grandma & most characters) here are seen as hypocrite, dumb or just followers of an empty rite. The final scene (Jamie speech at the church) is one of the most offensive thing I could ever had imagined. Acceptable as viewer because movie need to be free but over the lines. The same the depiction of the young priest, depicted as someone searching a stable job occupation (really? In 2018, being a priest in a post-religious world is something not really "safe"). Last but not least the german character (the "real" grandpa of Jamie) is just a joke, not even a stereotype because to be a stereotype you need a truth behind
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6/10
One time watch
naveennbhat11 June 2020
Honestly, it is just another 'Little Miss Sunshine' wannabe. There's nothing deep in here, if that's what you're looking for. Unless, maybe that was the message of the movie all along- that not all memorable incidents in life need to have a deep meaning or message. In that case, point made.
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1/10
Was this supposed to be entertaining?
XxNighttimexX6 June 2022
Warning: Spoilers
Now I absolutely adore Jack Kilmer, he's an amazing actor and Joey King is a fantastic actress, but this whole move was an absolute waste of their talent. When I first started the movie, I was laughing a little, maybe a chuckle here and there but then everything went downhill after the two "love interests" Jamie and Luke actually started hanging out.

So you're telling me if she's grounded and she sneaks out, she gets caught and has no repercussions?

She disobeys her parents more times than I can even count and yet they're still not as harsh on her as they should've been. She basically tells them to screw off and yet when she comes back she isn't in any kind of trouble for yelling at them, calling them horrible parents, storming out the house while being told she can't go anywhere, and much more.

Also when Luke tells her he doesn't love her, she gets upset and suddenly he's the bad guy for the rest of the movie that we're supposed to be against? I don't see what he did wrong it just seems like the movie is saying she has the right to throw a tantrum because someone doesn't like her the same way she likes them. Now if he would've said he loved her and then told her he was just saying that so they can have sex, then he would've been the bad guy. The ending really upsets me, she goes on stage, blames her actions on her dead grandmother, and then exposes Luke (who I still don't think did anything wrong). I guess since Luke doesn't love her she doesn't care if she ruins his life anymore because she told EVERYONE in the church what he did after telling her mother not to because it would ruin his life. She then feels she has the right to PUNCH him and yet at the end he's still the one saying sorry over a letter and getting ignored? Overall this movie was absolutely a mess in my eyes and I would only recommend you watch it if you like cheesy rebellious comedies.
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7/10
Do you remember your first time, I can't remember a worse time....
richardellis-6832310 January 2019
Music might change, fashion might change but teenagers don't. From a girl perspective this is a coming of age when sixteen year old girls go through the transition from giving that cherry away. I enjoyed this film but I found it was kinda stuck between should it be a comedy or a drama. It is a bit of both but I don't think it will stand the test of time . I would certainly give it a watch as Joey King is a great actress and deserve to go on to bigger and better things.
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2/10
The story is utterly stupid
buithnhlong7 February 2019
The only comedic moments are scenes with the dying grandma. The rest of the movie is confusing and illogical.
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6/10
A light comedy, is good worth watching it.
ZeroCoolRO18 January 2019
This is nothing much but a light comedy, where they show us the life of a 16yo girl and her summer. The whole movie was clear that March liked / loved Jamie, but didn't had the courage to admit it.

There isn't much to say about this movie ... as I already said, light comedy. I won't start to write here a novel like others did, the movie was good, he deserves the score from IMDb, it is a good movie with good actors and a good acting, the story isn't bad aswell.

My score for this movie is ⭐ 6 / 10 ⭐
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1/10
horrific
willcallaway16 April 2019
Totally bogus, infantile depiction of a female journey, actually manages to depict women as ignorant, sex-infatuated idiots, stereotypes abound. Not one redeeming quality hath the main character. Watch at your own peril---a huge stinking pile.
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8/10
Not the Summer of '69
kosmasp12 February 2021
Bryan Adams references aside, this actually could be understood a different way, but I won't go into that. I'd rather let the grandma do that "Talk" for and to you. Now the movie has some sexual talk, which may be something that may cause some people to be completely outraged - especially in America. But if you are above those things, you do get a comedy about a dysfunctional family that actually works quite well.

Especially because of the lead performance. Not sure if you are aware of Joey King, but she really is a natural. Her mixture of innocence and beautiful exterior combined with her acting talent really do the trick here (and in other movies she stars in). And it's imperative, especially considering what she is able to do. Not that this is an admission of guilt or is supposed to free others of guilt for what they do. But if you look to be offended this movie gives you plenty of opportunities! So try to check that at the door before watching the movie - otherwise you won't be able to have fun with watching this. And you can have plenty of that ... no pun intended
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2/10
See for yourself
leefraser7813 February 2019
Sorry it's not the actors fault. Director should be ashamed. Waste of money.
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Long winded and trashy
npjy834 February 2019
If you are a fan of the American Pie movies then you may enjoy this movie, if you were not a fan, you won't enjoy this movie. A lot of sexual references throughout, quite explicit in some scenes, very cringy at times, very anti-Semitism in some scenes which I don't normally notice in movies, unnecessary and high content use of swearing where it wasn't needed.

A long winded story that didn't evolve into anything. Quite trashy. One funny scene at the end which made me laugh, didn't laugh anywhere else within the movie, and just teenage drab throughout. The story could have been made better and funnier. I wouldn't watch it again. I kept looking at the timestamp to see when it would eventually finish. Had contemplated turning it off half way through, but endured it to the end. 3 stars as acting was okay.
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