Along for the Ride

This is a cute high school to college summertime romance. The usual out-of-place, uptight, smart, old soul, sad girl meets: gorgeous, aimless, despondent, biker-boy (BMX, not motorcycle). It did NOT fail to satisfy my appetite for honest, feel good young love. The cliché, of course, is the obvious message to the audience that teens are actually more intelligent and level-headed than their parents. This time I'm not so certain they aren't correct! Her parents are all a few eggs short of an omelette.

The insecurity and bursts of emotion are navigated quite superbly, not too overwhelming; but sufficient enough to taste the angst, frustration, and potential for regret. Oh, to be young again.

What happened to Kate Bosworth? She only seems to do trailer park these days...

A holiday teen-romance coming-of-age movie centering on Auden (Emma Pasarow), a socially-awkward people-watcher who dreams of being somebody else. She moves to her father's home by the sea for summer and meets his new trophy wife and baby. While there she meets Eli (Belmont Cameli), a freewheeling spirit and polar opposite to Auden.

A furball of tropes then, yet despite that the setup is well done and shows promise. The cinematography is excellent, overarchingly pastel with some beautiful shots, particularly the color coordination choices. Synthpop music also supports the narrative and seaside theme.

Inevitably this is a derivative story, loosely based on all other young romantic fiction, and that begins to show through. The key criticism is the lack of chemistry between the two protagonists. Naturally that shatters the core love story; add to that the generic and formulaic plot, it rapidly becomes easy to predict and its charm fades.

An ok romantic movie to pass the time, do not expect to be wowed by it.

A very formulaic teen coming of age that goes through the motions with no heart. The cast had no chemistry and the lines felt delivered rather than acted.

I have seen many coming of age films that start like this and when it surprises enough to avoid cliched pitfalls ... I start to enjoy it. The leads bring a fresh chemistry of relaxed unpretentiousness that hints at the depths to be seen later.

The languid resort town pace and great direction by Sofia Alvarez bring this sweet movie to a genuine close that doesnt rely on the conventional and is all for the best of a heartfelt film.

If you enjoy a subtle play on theme where Emma channels a wonderful and nuanced Jennifer Connelly in the character you will love this! As do I.

Enjoyed this a lot. Believable characters, believable scenarios, nice locations. Of course few of us are as physically attractive as the characters, and a film exploring what happens to those not quite so blessed would be interesting, But this is film/fairy tale territory, so I guess that's unlikely to happen.