American Summer

Wonder Years narration? ...Check ...Summer lake? Check ...Out of reach love interest? Check...

The point im trying to make is that the film uses summer coming of age movie cliches in a way that is rather bland. It tries to go for a heartwarming kind of vibe and it never feels good or natural. I liked the acting and the setting but the story is not too memorable. The films moral on the other hand is actually quite good.

This film tells the story of a 17 year old man who experiences a life changing summer holiday.

On the macro level, the story is satisfying and heartwarming. It is good to see the changes in the young man. His experiences are quite saddening, but it leads up growth.

This film seems uneven upon first watch, but upon analysis there's a sharp division between all of the youth roles and adult roles.

Blake Cooper (chubby kid from CHUCK and MAZE RUNNER) heads the cast with a performance that is thoughtful, genuine and winning. He's surrounded by familiar young characters who are fleshed out by talented young actors.

Then we come to the adult roles: Luke Wilson as the dad is one-dimensional and barely registers. Hence, I didn't really care about his character in the least.

Judy Greer's considerable skills can't bring life to her poorly written part. As a professional, she connects with Blake Cooper, but the dialogue is severely limiting.

Donald Sutherland suffers the most, effecting an accent that might be South African or British, but it comes and goes, and is a terrible attempt. His accent detracts from his character and makes for a ghastly performance.

This could have been a classic coming-of-age movie, but its flaws -- drawn along age lines -- make it an okay one-time watch.

I'm now a fan of Coopers: he does a fantastic job. Interestingly, when I looked him up to see what else he's done, in new pictures he appears to have shed all the weight and cuts a very handsome figure.

Measure of a Man is based on the novel One Fat Summer. The book looks at a young man who overeats and has little focus through his life. When he gets a job and learns to face adversity he learns to be a man. The movie follows the novel for the most part, but loses the humor, and misses the whole point of learning independence and self worth through work and effort. The movie seems to have him sitting around the cabin bored far more often than the book did. I may have liked the movie more if I had not read the book, but I think most people will come to this movie hoping to see the book brought to life.

Here are quite a few movies to this degree but this one stood out to me for a few reasons. The main character did a great job and the superb cast that surrounded him didn't take away from his acting.

Kept my interested the whole time even though I knew how it would most likely play out,

Worth a watch with the family

6.8