Roger Ebert likes to say (paraphrased) that it's not what a movie's about, but rather how it goes about it. Often so, especially in retread after retread that go by every year, but with Summer Lovers it's the reverse, because there's really very little to compare it to. This is a film that struggles with limited (but attractive) talent, flamboyantly uneven direction and bad editing. What's worse, a film has to often use dialog in place of looks and feelings that take place and have meaning in a relationship, but that are lost to the observer, and the dialog here often fails.
But at the same time, Summer Lovers doesn't blink when looking into freedom of the body, and freedom in relationships. Some look at this as fantasy, but indeed there are a lot of people who have made the one-way trip down that rabbit hole and can understand what this film's really about.
I give it an E for Effort. I like it better for having failed in its ambition than having succeeded in a lesser attempt. It's definitely not for the uptight, but if you're sitting around some day in an expansive frame of mind, wondering if you're getting everything out of your life that you ought to, then maybe rent this one and have an enjoyable afternoon thinking about the possibilities.
But at the same time, Summer Lovers doesn't blink when looking into freedom of the body, and freedom in relationships. Some look at this as fantasy, but indeed there are a lot of people who have made the one-way trip down that rabbit hole and can understand what this film's really about.
I give it an E for Effort. I like it better for having failed in its ambition than having succeeded in a lesser attempt. It's definitely not for the uptight, but if you're sitting around some day in an expansive frame of mind, wondering if you're getting everything out of your life that you ought to, then maybe rent this one and have an enjoyable afternoon thinking about the possibilities.