I ran across this feature and live in Ventura so I wanted to see what it was all about. After watching it initially I was kind of disappointed. It is a typical low budget National Lampoons feature that fell short... but I did a little more research and found most of the characters are real life Venturians that moved and lived in the heyday of surfing and skating in this blue collar surf town, mostly in downtown/midtown near Pierpont.
Mike Mooney, Sparks, Lardo, and others were caricatures of the real people. It turns out Mike Mooney is a fixture in town and still shapes boards and that Sparks, where the story eludes to him riding his last wave at 25, took his own life when he was 25.
Here is the article: http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/the_way_we_were/7014/
It was fun to see all the local shops and spots, even though most of it was shot on Sea Street near the surf shot and down in the Pierpont condos.
I wish it could have been a sweeter film, more nostalgic and period piece and coming of age film rather than trying to force it into a shallow comedy and dramatic formula. However it was funny to hear people called southies (from LA and The Valley)...
Mike Mooney, Sparks, Lardo, and others were caricatures of the real people. It turns out Mike Mooney is a fixture in town and still shapes boards and that Sparks, where the story eludes to him riding his last wave at 25, took his own life when he was 25.
Here is the article: http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/the_way_we_were/7014/
It was fun to see all the local shops and spots, even though most of it was shot on Sea Street near the surf shot and down in the Pierpont condos.
I wish it could have been a sweeter film, more nostalgic and period piece and coming of age film rather than trying to force it into a shallow comedy and dramatic formula. However it was funny to hear people called southies (from LA and The Valley)...