Fourteen-year-old Duncan has to spend summer at the beach house of Trent, the surly new boyfriend of his mother. With Trent's daughter treating his like trash stuck to her shoe, and a boozy neighbor trying to have him babysit her 10-year-old son, Duncan finds an escape in the local water park. Manager Owen befriends Duncan and mentors him through some teenage rites of passage.
These are familiar themes and storylines, but it is all done with such charm and humanity that the film wins you over. The opening scene, with Trent verbally bullying Duncan, sets the tone for Duncan's suffering. Duncan's journey from awkward, silent pubescent to angry young man ready to go toe-to-toe with Trent hits all the right emotional notes. The jokes are funny, the heart-warming bits avoid sentimentality, and Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette and Steve Carrell all put in exemplary performances. It doesn't all work - there is a slightly clunky dance sequence where Duncan "earns" the nickname pop-n-lock. But most of it works, and works well. I laughed, I cried, which is just what I want from a film like this. It's a feel-good film that I find myself going back to in successive summers.
These are familiar themes and storylines, but it is all done with such charm and humanity that the film wins you over. The opening scene, with Trent verbally bullying Duncan, sets the tone for Duncan's suffering. Duncan's journey from awkward, silent pubescent to angry young man ready to go toe-to-toe with Trent hits all the right emotional notes. The jokes are funny, the heart-warming bits avoid sentimentality, and Sam Rockwell, Toni Collette and Steve Carrell all put in exemplary performances. It doesn't all work - there is a slightly clunky dance sequence where Duncan "earns" the nickname pop-n-lock. But most of it works, and works well. I laughed, I cried, which is just what I want from a film like this. It's a feel-good film that I find myself going back to in successive summers.