Summer of 69: Teen Comedy With More On Its Mind (Early Review)

Summer of 69, the directorial debut of actress Jillian Bell, is the latest teen sex comedy. Premiering at this year’s SXSW film festival, the film centers around awkward high schooler Abby Flores (Morelos), who has been pining over her crush Max (Cornett) since grade school. Having just recently learned about his break up with his longtime girlfriend, Max found himself single for the first time in ages. In an effort to improve her chances, Abby enlisted the help of a local stripper named Santa Monica (Fineman) to teach her everything she needs to know about confidence, sex, and herself. A film that starts off as a fun raunchy sex comedy, that over time, slowly evolves into something much more personal and moving.

Morelos makes for a terrific lead, delivering a great performance as Abby. The kind of character that routinely makes the common mistakes one would expect from someone her age, even when she may not always be doing the right thing, audiences will still find themselves rooting for her. To her credit, Morelos brings so much likeability and charisma to the role that might not have been there, had it been in a lesser actor’s hands. However, as good as she is, the film serves as an even better showcase for Fineman, who completely steals the show as Santa Monica. Bringing not only her stellar comedic timing, she also gives the stripper a surprising amount of heart and warmth. Fineman easily has the best arc in the film, and making she and Morelos co-leads proved to be a great decision, giving them equal focus. Their fantastic chemistry, watching their friendship grow over the course of the film, is genuinely touching and among the strongest parts of the film.

A solid debut for Bell behind the camera, this story feels like the perfect one for her first feature. The film has all the laughs, raunchy humor, and over-the-top situations audiences have grown accustomed to, leaning on the nostalgia factor some may have for early 2000’s teen comedies while standing on its own. That being said, aside from all the laughs, the film offers an important message about self worth that will surely strike a chord. While many audiences will go into this for the comedy, they will come out reflecting on its relatable themes. Meanwhile, like all the best teen sex comedies, this film has a ton of heart, and it will almost certainly put smiles on faces as it reaches a touching conclusion.

All things considered, there isn’t much to complain about here. Though falling short from the next classic in the genre, the film starts off fine enough, but does take time to truly find its footing. Once Abby and Santa Monica, and their dynamic, join the fray, the film picks up tremendously, and gets better from there. Like most comedies, many of its jokes fall flat, and the level of laughs starts to slow down come the second half as the film develops a more mature tone. It also wraps up in a way some may consider convenient, instead of employing a more realistic approach.

At the end of the day, Summer of 69 is one of the better high school comedies in recent memory with a lot more on its mind than what audiences may initially expect. Sam Morelos and Chloe Fineman are a perfect match together and ultimately help the film stand out amongst an already crowded genre.

Score: 77/100

still courtesy of Disney

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Connor Carey

www.connorsmoviereviews.com/