VividSimon Simply Perfect

SpunkySelfTwitter It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

InformationRap This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

BobbyT24 I remember watching this in high school. It was one of those "wish I was Hermie" moments with one look at Jennifer O'Neill. I think any teenage boy would fall in love/lust with just one look at her. If you would have asked my IMDb score when I was 15, my answer would have been 10 out of 10."Nostalgia is one helluva drug," as the saying goes...The cinematography was exquisite. The settings, magnificent. Of course, the music is still timeless. Jennifer O'Neill... extraordinarily luminous. However... If movies have a shelf life, this one's expired somewhere in the early-80s. What I never considered about this movie was just how poorly written and acted this story really was as a film. My understanding is this was based on a true encounter for the author. I'm sure he had wonderful memories of that lady. I wish those memories would have been translated into a more enjoyable viewing experience. I don't know who cast this movie in 1971, but the actors acted like an early-'70s beginning actors' workshop. All were stiff, forced and delivered lines like they read the simplistic script off-screen, stepped in front of the camera and regurgitated those basic words or tried to improv the rest. There was no chemistry between Hermie and Dorothy. The three friends were as dopey as they were supposed to be funny and charming. The dialogue delivered throughout could have been written by a horny, male teenager who wanted to impress his WWII-era teacher without studying language truly spoken in 1942. When everyone looks like they are acting in a school play with just beautiful scenery behind them... you get my drift. The music, however, sets a gorgeous tone. I'd forgotten the theme piece plays throughout. It's beautiful melody weaves a spell over the audience to understand young love and all it's charm. The score most assuredly stands the test of time.The movie's coming-of-age story is sweet, lovely, full of nostalgia... but not innocent. As other reviewers have stated on this site, this is statutory rape by the stunning female lead. We can't gloss over that fact, as beautiful as the scenery surely is. Sure, Dorothy is exceedingly sad and effervescent. Sure, Hermie has been chasing and dreaming about her since the film's opening shot. Sure, the island is one romantic location after another in a lost time we all reminisce about in our dreams... but she's still a pedophile in her actions. Every underage person has had a crush on an older person. It's unlawful for the older person to act on it. The story also had to only have been written by a male. If this would have been a female's perspective, having a 20-something widower taking advantage of a smitten 15yo girl would have a completely different reaction from the audience, no matter the era this movie was filmed.The final line in the movie sums up how basic the storyline is: "In the Summer of '42,... Benji broke his watch, Oski gave up the harmonica, and in a very special way, I lost Hermie... forever." The entire movie just felt... basic. I wanted to love this movie again. I NEEDED to love it again. But some things can't catch their original magic once you open the bottle a second time.I would only recommend this to people who want a sweet look at 1942 New England island life with a haunting melody playing you into a trance. It's very beautiful, serene and worth the trip into our past for that portion of the movie. If you're looking to reminisce about a great story from your childhood, you'll be disappointed. My recommendation: Buy the soundtrack - preferably with a cover featuring Jennifer O'Neill's lovely face. Sit in a quiet room near the ocean with the music playing in the background. And reminisce about lost time and your own lost loves for the soundtrack's entirety. You will be rewarded far more than watching this film. I'm sad this viewing robbed me of a beautiful memory in my youth. Sometimes, nostalgia is better left in the past, much like this movie should have been.

dougdoepke Hats off to writer Raucher and crew. They've managed to overcome a lack of plot, action, and pizazz with a coming-of-age movie that's about as sensitively told and captivating as any on record. Those coastal vistas and wooden structures reach near poetic levels of time past. Having been young in the late 1940's, there's a lot of nostalgia in the radio programming and ads of the time. And I can certainly testify to the restrictive sexual norms of the period. Going into a drugstore and risking a dressing down was like a rite of passage for many teenage boys. Otherwise, hope lay in some obliging gas station with a coin operated dispenser in the men's room.Grimes really registers as the sexually naïve Hermie, while O'Neill shines as any boy's dream girl. For Hermie, conflicting signals from his hormones, buddies, and society have left him achingly confused. (Here actor Grimes's subtle staring into the distance speaks volumes.) But instead of Hermie easing his way along with the plain-faced Aggie, he's obsessed with an older woman, Dorothy (O'Neill). Trouble is she's already emotionally wedded to her overseas army boyfriend. So he pines at the same time he manages a helpful relationship with her at her seaside cabin. Just what he's hoping for, we can't be sure. On top of that, his two buddies are no help to his dilemma. Seldom have older movies conveyed the foolish antics of teenage boys as effectively as this, as they push each other around both physically and mentally. More importantly, it's a realistic background on which to frame Hermie's sensitive instincts. At the same time, kudos should go to Houser and Conant as Hermie's unhelpful buddies.I guess my only reservation's with the seduction scene. I can't figure out Dorothy's motivation coming on top of the heart-wrenching telegram. I would think sex with another guy would be furthest from her mind. But there we are. Maybe if they'd had her tipsy drunk that would have helped. But that would also have compromised the ambiguity of her act. Is she just using Hermie as a comfort object; is she tenderly inducting him into adulthood in a selfless act; or is she just escaping anguish in any way she can. Perhaps it's a mix of them all in some kind of foggy way. But, since the story's factually based, we have to assume the circumstances really happened in some private manner.(Several minor points- Judging from poor plain Aggie, there's likely a story behind her dilemma as touching as Hermie's. Dorothy's long straight 1970's hair style is definitely not 1940's. Women coiffed their hair in those days. Note that the iconic old movies referenced are all Warner Bros. 40's features. Not surprising since this production is from the same studio.) Anyway, the film remains a superbly wrought remembrance of a time gone by, as poignantly relevant now as it was then. A big salute to all involved.

SnoopyStyle Hermie (Gary Grimes) recalls the summer of 42 on Nantucket Island when he was 15 with his family on summer holidays. His best friends are Oscy and Benjie. The boys are sex obsessed and Dorothy (Jennifer O'Neill) is Hermie's biggest obsession. New bride Dorothy sends her husband off to war leaving her alone in the beach house. He helps her carry the grocery home. Oscy picks up three girls at the movies. Oscy chooses the pretty blonde Miriam and leaves Hermie with the mousy Aggie. Benjie runs off and Gloria also leaves.I think every guy has had an Oscy in his life during that age or maybe was the Oscy of the group himself. Oscy gives a nostalgic realism feel to this memory laden movie. Dorothy is a fantasy that is understandable by all men past the teenage years. The young guys fit their roles very well. Jennifer O'Neill is pretty. I wouldn't say anybody acted exceptionally well but they all do their parts. This has the condom buying scene plus other coming-of-age standards. There is a really slow climatic scene which feels odd for the subject matter in the modern sense.

joy-106-307514 Warning! Spoilers in this review. I was young and naive when I saw this film. About 15 years old I think. It truly both educated me, and changed my life. This was the first time I became aware that others had feelings comparable to the ones that I had. The scene where Hermie has to buy the rubbers is hilarious. The druggist was perfectly casted. It's hard to imagine nowadays that it used to be against the law to sell condoms to people under a certain age. Anyway, I strongly suggest reading the book before seeing the movie. It allows you to know what thoughts are going through Hermie's head throughout the film. For instance, there is one scene where he is holding the ladder as she puts items in the attic. In the film you simply see him smiling and appearing nervous. In the book there are probably two full pages of description of what he is thinking at that moment.