The movie in my opinion was good. The cast was very good. I'm wondering if this is the movie that made Ryan Murphy decide to cast actor Cody Fern in American Crime Story: Versace. It probably is. I liked the bond between siblings in this movie. I also liked how it depicted a family living in what is supposed to be the Valhalla of Suburban life and how truly fractured that family was. The mother who was played by Jennifer Garner was a mess and depended on her son to ease her pain. The father selfishly decided to start a new family and leave his children behind with their broken mother. Medina was more equipped to handle this , but Jim fell apart. His downward spiral was so sad. That ending was heartbreaking, but that's how things are nowadays. I appreciated the movie for that.
42 Reviews
Sad Slice of Life
Moviegoer1910 December 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Another reviewer referred to this film as "cruel." I think a better word is "sad." It was quite well done. Despite anticipating the brother's demise, I was moved to tears at the end. The film did a great job of showing the complexities of being in a nuclear family in the 21st century, though, to be honest, I wasn't sure of the time frame until Facebook was mentioned. In most films that take place today the cell phone plays a major role and in this film it didn't, though they did Skype.
Anyway, Jennifer Garner is usually not a favorite of mine, but her acting in this film was excellent as was Maika Monroe's. The complex emotions exchanged by the members of this broken upper middle class family were realistic, palpable, and multi-dimensional. For example, it would have been easy to simply hate the father (Justin Kirk) for falling out of love with his wife and leaving his family for another one, yet one scene in which he explains himself to his daughter, bore some truths which made me feel empathy for him as well as the others.
The story was presented with depth which is what made it successful, in my opinion. It's not a happy film, or even particularly hopeful, but it is a realistic slice of life and engrossing.
Anyway, Jennifer Garner is usually not a favorite of mine, but her acting in this film was excellent as was Maika Monroe's. The complex emotions exchanged by the members of this broken upper middle class family were realistic, palpable, and multi-dimensional. For example, it would have been easy to simply hate the father (Justin Kirk) for falling out of love with his wife and leaving his family for another one, yet one scene in which he explains himself to his daughter, bore some truths which made me feel empathy for him as well as the others.
The story was presented with depth which is what made it successful, in my opinion. It's not a happy film, or even particularly hopeful, but it is a realistic slice of life and engrossing.
Sad movie.
hayleetainsh24 June 2019
This movie came up on a list of best surf movies. It is not about surfing! This movie is about a dysfunctional family going through a divorce. It's very sad.
It's well written and interesting. Just be prepared that this is not an upbeat film about waves and surfers.
Oh! The Humanity!..... of Living as the Idle Rich!
djfone17 March 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Sometimes you just want to slap people silly.
In a week when the rich and famous spend millions they consider tip money to get their kids prestigious degrees that they had no intention to work for (or work after), leaving behind far more qualified candidates who WERE willing to earn what they're worth, Showtime --- during their free preview weekend, thank you very much --- airs "Tribes of Palos Verdes", based on the book of the same name.
It's actually a pretty watchable movie, with spectacular Palos Verdes scenery amid the surfing cliff-front peninsula of an insulated community that forbids apartments; fast-food joints, WalMart wear, and outer walls that go unpainted for more than 3 years.
Maika Monroe, of 'It Follows" and currently seen in "Greta" --- picture the bland-faced youngest sister of Julia Stiles, Chloe Sevigny, and Brie Larson --- and Cody Fern are the teen twin brother and sister children of Jennifer Garner and Justin Kirk, owners of the blufftop, oceanfront home that enables Garner and the kids to while away the perfect sunny days aggressively doing absolutely nothing except surfing and bemoaning their trust-fund lives. No jobs. No education. No future plans.
They're like Lori Loughlin's daughter, boasting on social media what she'll do at USC: "I don't think I'll spend much time at class, but I look forward to game days and parties."
Kirk is an affluent heart-transplant surgeon who wooed Garner and the kids to move well out of their Michigan comfort zone and midwestern values to enjoy the daily-combed sand of the beach below and the manicured, deep green lawns while bemoaning the surfers whose surfboards flatten her ice plants and the roaring ocean waves that keep her awake at night.
She is clearly a woman on the brink, refusing to wear makeup to compete with the Botox queen trophy wives at the Tennis Club (like Elisabeth Rohm from TV's "Law & Order") and ordering a greasy cheeseburger and fries when the Ladies Who Lunch for a living at her table order salads with dressing on the side.
Her husband's welcome-to-California affair with a Real Housewrecker of Beverly Hills (Alicia Silverstone) sends her flying truly, madly, off the deep end, soon followed by her sensitive son (Fern), who makes up for her fleeting company and support by desperately seeking street cred from the much older, trespassing "bad boys" who rough up surfers who poach on their turf.
When Fern's always-supportive sister, (Monroe) takes up with a new boyfriend (Silverstone's son), and Garner seeks to flee any reminders of her husband and his lifestyle, Fern feels abandoned, adrift next to the ocean, alone in a city of 10 million strangers, and suffers it in the worst way possible.
The damning "regulations" of the town, spoken in voiceover by Monroe, properly bookend the movie, with a stunning final scene.
The best part of the film, to me, is its score, with music from Adam Topol, Braden Miller, Ty Segall, Bahamas, Shannon Lay, and Jack Johnson.
One gathers from "Tribes of Palos Verdes" that the author of the book, and the scripter couldn't wait to get the hell out of paradise. Then again, when you consider what most men most wish for: Wealth; fame; power; and a beautiful wife....which one man, who has all four, immediately comes to mind? Would you really want to be him?
In a week when the rich and famous spend millions they consider tip money to get their kids prestigious degrees that they had no intention to work for (or work after), leaving behind far more qualified candidates who WERE willing to earn what they're worth, Showtime --- during their free preview weekend, thank you very much --- airs "Tribes of Palos Verdes", based on the book of the same name.
It's actually a pretty watchable movie, with spectacular Palos Verdes scenery amid the surfing cliff-front peninsula of an insulated community that forbids apartments; fast-food joints, WalMart wear, and outer walls that go unpainted for more than 3 years.
Maika Monroe, of 'It Follows" and currently seen in "Greta" --- picture the bland-faced youngest sister of Julia Stiles, Chloe Sevigny, and Brie Larson --- and Cody Fern are the teen twin brother and sister children of Jennifer Garner and Justin Kirk, owners of the blufftop, oceanfront home that enables Garner and the kids to while away the perfect sunny days aggressively doing absolutely nothing except surfing and bemoaning their trust-fund lives. No jobs. No education. No future plans.
They're like Lori Loughlin's daughter, boasting on social media what she'll do at USC: "I don't think I'll spend much time at class, but I look forward to game days and parties."
Kirk is an affluent heart-transplant surgeon who wooed Garner and the kids to move well out of their Michigan comfort zone and midwestern values to enjoy the daily-combed sand of the beach below and the manicured, deep green lawns while bemoaning the surfers whose surfboards flatten her ice plants and the roaring ocean waves that keep her awake at night.
She is clearly a woman on the brink, refusing to wear makeup to compete with the Botox queen trophy wives at the Tennis Club (like Elisabeth Rohm from TV's "Law & Order") and ordering a greasy cheeseburger and fries when the Ladies Who Lunch for a living at her table order salads with dressing on the side.
Her husband's welcome-to-California affair with a Real Housewrecker of Beverly Hills (Alicia Silverstone) sends her flying truly, madly, off the deep end, soon followed by her sensitive son (Fern), who makes up for her fleeting company and support by desperately seeking street cred from the much older, trespassing "bad boys" who rough up surfers who poach on their turf.
When Fern's always-supportive sister, (Monroe) takes up with a new boyfriend (Silverstone's son), and Garner seeks to flee any reminders of her husband and his lifestyle, Fern feels abandoned, adrift next to the ocean, alone in a city of 10 million strangers, and suffers it in the worst way possible.
The damning "regulations" of the town, spoken in voiceover by Monroe, properly bookend the movie, with a stunning final scene.
The best part of the film, to me, is its score, with music from Adam Topol, Braden Miller, Ty Segall, Bahamas, Shannon Lay, and Jack Johnson.
One gathers from "Tribes of Palos Verdes" that the author of the book, and the scripter couldn't wait to get the hell out of paradise. Then again, when you consider what most men most wish for: Wealth; fame; power; and a beautiful wife....which one man, who has all four, immediately comes to mind? Would you really want to be him?
Gilded gates open to a hollow homelife
troy-boulton1 October 2018
Strong performances from the core cast save this slow-moving and moody family affair from being irredeemably trite. You've seen this film before, but maybe not this cut of it. Echoing the aesthetic tone and much of the slower interstitial pacing of the 90s thriller Point Break, this coming of age divorce melodrama shines light on the emptiness of the idealised American Dream, showing that money most certainly does not always add richness to one's life. Shadows of evolving tribal bonds flicker on the walls - family, friends, allies, enemies. Who is which? Is blood thicker than water? Is loyalty more important than happiness? Can a morality tale masquerade as a post-modern narrative? Whatever the case may be, Palos Verdes somehow keeps the action, and the answers to these questions, somewhat detached and at arm's length. Despite the decent cast, none of the characters, through all their travails, are sufficiently compelling to be celebrated or mourned.
Not great, but not bad. Worth a watch if you are hard up for something to fill 90 minutes.
Not great, but not bad. Worth a watch if you are hard up for something to fill 90 minutes.
Mental illness and the family dynamic
dan_megan-246-92536912 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
To me the strongest message this movie sent was the devastating and dangerous consequences of undiagnosed and/or untreated mental illness. The mother clearly suffers from manic depression and is seen throwing out her pills towards the beginning of the movie. Her behavior becomes more and more erratic and take a serious toll on the family in a number of ways.
The son also is suffering from at least depression if not manic depression himself and fueled by a chaotic and unhappy home life chooses to self medicate through alcohol and drugs to a tragic end. No one in the family, not even his devoted sister was willing to take a honest look at his mental state. It speaks to the heartbreaking stigma out there surrounding mental health especially for males.
This movie is far from perfectly executed and seems to lack focus but I still found value in it.
The son also is suffering from at least depression if not manic depression himself and fueled by a chaotic and unhappy home life chooses to self medicate through alcohol and drugs to a tragic end. No one in the family, not even his devoted sister was willing to take a honest look at his mental state. It speaks to the heartbreaking stigma out there surrounding mental health especially for males.
This movie is far from perfectly executed and seems to lack focus but I still found value in it.
Unrelenting Melodrama is Far From Entertaining
larrys315 April 2018
The Mason family has just moved from Michigan to the exclusive community of Palos Verdes, California. There's the noted heart surgeon father (Justin Kirk), the emotionally troubled mother (Jennifer Garner) and their extremely close twin siblings (Maika Monroe and Cody Fern).
The film is narrated by Monroe's character Medina, as they all settle into their palatial home overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Ocean. However, all is not idyllic in this family, as we actually watch them deteriorate before our eyes.
The acting is solid all around but I found the story led me on a depressive and mean-spirited slog, with the parents particularly despicable here as they manipulate their teenage kids for their own purposes no matter what the cost. Without giving too much away here, the cost will be very high.
Overall, some may find this unrelenting melodrama to their liking but for me it was a difficult view and far from entertaining.
The film is narrated by Monroe's character Medina, as they all settle into their palatial home overlooking the gorgeous Pacific Ocean. However, all is not idyllic in this family, as we actually watch them deteriorate before our eyes.
The acting is solid all around but I found the story led me on a depressive and mean-spirited slog, with the parents particularly despicable here as they manipulate their teenage kids for their own purposes no matter what the cost. Without giving too much away here, the cost will be very high.
Overall, some may find this unrelenting melodrama to their liking but for me it was a difficult view and far from entertaining.
find your tribe
ferguson-630 November 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Greetings again from the darkness. Since there is always "trouble in paradise", perhaps living in paradise shouldn't even be a life goal. There are certainly less expensive ways to enjoy a nice view than relocating the family from the frozen Midwestern leisure of Michigan to the ultra-rich, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses hypocrisy of Palos Verdes. Joy Nicholson's 1997 book has been adapted for the screen by writer Karen Croner. Brothers Brendan Malloy and Emmett Malloy co- direct in what appears to be their feature film debut after 15 plus years of music-related videos, shorts and documentaries.
The Masons move into a cliff-side mansion in Palos Verdes. The breathtaking Pacific Ocean view is supposed to offset the homogenized exclusive suburbia punctuated with manicured lawns, freshly painted homes, and close-minded wealthy folks. That works for Phil (Justin Kirk), the cardiologist who does see this as paradise and hopes his family will feel the same. His wife Sandy (Jennifer Garner) is struggling with depression, and their twin 16 year old kids Medina (Maika Monroe) and Jim (Cody Fern) are personality opposites he being the popular kid, while she is a loner.
Since we all know new curtains don't fix a broken window, the fractured family is soon on full display. The dysfunction came along as part of their relocation and much of this can be traced to Sandy's manic-depressive state. The stress-related fallout is ugly. Phil finds comfort in the arms of their Realtor (Alicia Silverstone), who scores a doctor to go along with her commission. This sends Sandy spiraling down the rabbit hole, as Jim starts experimenting with drugs, and Medina seeks peace on a surfboard that she procured through a most unusual negotiation.
Most of the story is told from Medina's perspective, and Ms. Monroe excels. Her breakout role was a couple of years ago in IT FOLLOWS, and though she's a bit too old to play a 16 year old, she is so talented and relatable that to whatever extent the movie works for you, it's likely to be because of her. The way she handles the cold distance between she and her mother is heartbreaking, yet her sadness and frustration at being the only one recognizing the fall of brother Jim is truly devastating.
The ultra-angst is sometimes a bit too heavy, as is the over-use of slow-motion and the intrusive indie music (as you might expect from music video directors). Many will hail Jennifer Garner's performance since it is so far removed from her usual grinning and lovable type, but I found her a bit too extreme and trying too hard. Despite these issues, the mystic draw of the sea makes perfect sense as Medina literally surfs the choppy waves of life. A threat of disaster is always on the cusp, and the filmmakers take full advantage of the contrasting beautiful setting. Finding our tribe is a key to life and we are privileged to follow along with rising star Maika Monroe's fabulous performance.
The Masons move into a cliff-side mansion in Palos Verdes. The breathtaking Pacific Ocean view is supposed to offset the homogenized exclusive suburbia punctuated with manicured lawns, freshly painted homes, and close-minded wealthy folks. That works for Phil (Justin Kirk), the cardiologist who does see this as paradise and hopes his family will feel the same. His wife Sandy (Jennifer Garner) is struggling with depression, and their twin 16 year old kids Medina (Maika Monroe) and Jim (Cody Fern) are personality opposites he being the popular kid, while she is a loner.
Since we all know new curtains don't fix a broken window, the fractured family is soon on full display. The dysfunction came along as part of their relocation and much of this can be traced to Sandy's manic-depressive state. The stress-related fallout is ugly. Phil finds comfort in the arms of their Realtor (Alicia Silverstone), who scores a doctor to go along with her commission. This sends Sandy spiraling down the rabbit hole, as Jim starts experimenting with drugs, and Medina seeks peace on a surfboard that she procured through a most unusual negotiation.
Most of the story is told from Medina's perspective, and Ms. Monroe excels. Her breakout role was a couple of years ago in IT FOLLOWS, and though she's a bit too old to play a 16 year old, she is so talented and relatable that to whatever extent the movie works for you, it's likely to be because of her. The way she handles the cold distance between she and her mother is heartbreaking, yet her sadness and frustration at being the only one recognizing the fall of brother Jim is truly devastating.
The ultra-angst is sometimes a bit too heavy, as is the over-use of slow-motion and the intrusive indie music (as you might expect from music video directors). Many will hail Jennifer Garner's performance since it is so far removed from her usual grinning and lovable type, but I found her a bit too extreme and trying too hard. Despite these issues, the mystic draw of the sea makes perfect sense as Medina literally surfs the choppy waves of life. A threat of disaster is always on the cusp, and the filmmakers take full advantage of the contrasting beautiful setting. Finding our tribe is a key to life and we are privileged to follow along with rising star Maika Monroe's fabulous performance.
Depressing Coming of Age flick at the Sea
hovengadoman16 June 2018
The tale of a failed marriage. dysfunctional family and drug use are what greeted me on this already depressing winters day in Australia. This could have been an Aussie movie with it's deadpan lead actress (Monroe), deadbeat Dad, OTT Mum and drug stuffed brother. Overall a bit too realistic for my taste but I like the sea and there was plenty of that!
"I hate everyone in Palos Verdes"
warren-parr24 July 2022
Having grown up in Palos Verdes (Estates, specifically) I had only a cursory interest for giving this movie a chance. Nothing new here in the insulated enclave which has become a house-flipping real estate orgy for millionaires since the 1980s. Dysfunctional families, drug addiction and suicidal teens, along with territorial surfer thugs were as prevalent here as its sun drenched environs during the Sixties and Seventies. The novel inspired the movie and seems to have been adapted well enough. Though I just couldn't wait to escape, invoking the same feeling I had as an adolescent.
Hideous parenting.
sudiniup26 June 2020
Leave Palos Verdes out of this, it's a movie about the devastation on children when their parents get divorced. The parents are selfish, self centered, immature, and they should never have had children. Emotionally ill, whatever you want to call the "mother," and hugely self-involved "father." All the more reason to practice birth control and save the horror of miserable, tortuous, hideous parenting on poor unsuspecting children. That's all I want to say.
Not a feel good movie but one worth watching.
sumiallen23 December 2018
I normally don't watch movies. Actually I rarely ever watch movies. But it was on cable and I didn't feel like being bothered with the other hyped up marketed acts last night so I sat through this.
And the summary of the movie was not accurate.
The ratings are a joke here.
First, this is one of the better screenwriting.
Two, Jennifer Garner CAN act.
Three, direction was excellent.
This isn't a feel good movie.
This movie is true to life. If not Palos Verdes, then anywhere in Southern California.
Life is not a feel good movie, and unfortunately it's really this ugly for anyone who is the unwilling trapped victim of a narcissist. In this case, it's the all too common children of divorce.
The reason why I don't like the summary "coming of age" is because it really isn't.
How do they come of age? These kids didn't get any sort of enlightenment or accomplishment. They're the protagonists that you will empathize with.
IF this movie had a hero, it would be a true blue canine family member. But these kids were not so lucky.
Many people can relate to this family regardless of who and what you are- and what your circumstances are.
And it's actually a good idea to watch something like this to put it in perspective.
I found the drama a little intense. I wish there was more better energy and sense of humor- but unfortunately, It's true to life.
Divorce is devastating - think twice parents before ruining your kid's lives
phd_travel11 February 2018
Warning: Spoilers
This movie is has some good points. At first it seem this might be some OC style affluent enclave drama by the sea but it's a bit more serious. A surgeon father brings his family to the exclusive Palos Verdes CA but soon after leaves his wife for his realtor. Jennifer Gardner acts well as the wife who loses it totally and depends too much on her teenage kids. She doesn't have that out of place perkiness that she usually has. Alicia Silverstone plays the other woman. There is a special bond between the brother and sister who are twins. She is a loner surfer type. He is a more easy going guy who unfortunately turns to drugs.
This movie turned out to be quite unsettling maybe a bit too many things go wrong and the adults are just so hopeless with a totally selfish dad and a basket case mom.
This movie turned out to be quite unsettling maybe a bit too many things go wrong and the adults are just so hopeless with a totally selfish dad and a basket case mom.
If It Isn't One Thing It's Your Mother
unonion23 July 2019
I felt a very strong revulsion for the sick, sick mother played by Jennifer Garner. There were no bright moments in this sad and pathetic scenario. Maika Monroe, as the daughter Medina, was fairly likable throughout but overall the film was depressing and aggravating.
To the author of the review Monotonous: Nobody said "Leo Carrillo Beach". The reference was to Cabrillo Beach which IS roughly 15 miles from Palos Verdes.
Cruel and Real
MovieIQTest4 December 2017
This is a very good movie, people and characters in it are all look real. The broken marriages to so many families nowadays in almost every country of the world not only affected so many husbands and wives but also seriously messed up their children. America's social infrastructure is like a broken and shattered glass, so many broken families, so many toilet relationships, so many twisted hardship that kids have to deal with their parents' bad marriage. America has become a weird family tree, its branches and leaves so complicated, either the wives carried their kids to new marriage, or the husbands brought their kids from his first, second or even 3rd marriage to newest wives, while their newer wives or husbands also got their own kids from their former marriages. More divorces simply complicated the family tree's growth and burdened it to unknown, unpredictable and unfathomable abyss. Kids growing up from such broken families many have twisted views almost to everything that ensured them to repeat the same or similar situations of their own marriages, their relationship to their opposite gender. They would become a bad copy of their parents and usually, the 2nd or the 3rd copy will be always worse than its 1st edition.
This is a very cruel but up close and personal film that I could hardly be able to watch to the end. I pity the three young children from two different broken families. The hardships they have to deal with 24/7 are so cruel and unbearable. I felt so sad while watching it and couldn't resist thinking of my elder son's broken marriage, and the grandson jammed in between his mother and father. The hardship my son has to deal with everyday is beyond every word could be described.
This film is just too cruel to watch.....
This is a very cruel but up close and personal film that I could hardly be able to watch to the end. I pity the three young children from two different broken families. The hardships they have to deal with 24/7 are so cruel and unbearable. I felt so sad while watching it and couldn't resist thinking of my elder son's broken marriage, and the grandson jammed in between his mother and father. The hardship my son has to deal with everyday is beyond every word could be described.
This film is just too cruel to watch.....
AWWWW...so sad - not at all a feel good movie
srobertson-7510323 July 2019
I prefer Jennifer Garner as a happy upbeat actress...this role (although well acted) just didn't seem like her thing. This was a very realistic movie but extremely sad. If you want a light feel good movie...this isn't it!
I know many divorced families that have kids who are basically shoved to the side to make room for the new spouse and family. The kids usually are the big losers as you can see in this film.
This movie highlights the sharp contrast between the idyllic ocean setting with beautiful houses with manicured lawns and the turmoil going on under the surface. The wealthy surgeon husband is more concerned with feeding his ego with his new woman after uprooting his family to this high brow community where they just don't fit in. Jennifer Garner plays the frazzled mother and dumped wife of the surgeon who absolutely doesn't have the inner strength to keep her family together. As a result, the kids go off and do their own thing leading to disaster.
It kept my attention, but I'd rather stick with something a little more upbeat.
Better and very different than advertised.
meangrl295 November 2020
When the situation at her idyllic Palos Verdes home turns volatile, young Medina attempts to surf her to happiness
This is much more than that. Jennifer Garner is amazing. Deep and insightful movie. To think i was just looking for a surfer movie.
This is much more than that. Jennifer Garner is amazing. Deep and insightful movie. To think i was just looking for a surfer movie.
Depressing Movie
llhorton17 March 2019
This movie is pretty depressing. I guess that means it's pretty realistic if played true to form.
Functional family becomes dysfunctional family and breaks apart. Pretty ho-hum all around; however, Jennifer Garner is excellent as a bi-polar mom dealing with her crumbling life. The rest of the cast turn in decent performances but Garner shines and proves she's a really good actress.
meh ...
hilarybreeze-5911825 January 2020
This movie can be watched with the sound off. you will still understand what's going on; and what's going on? i
a movie that can't decide if it's about surfing teens, surf gangs, mental illness, fidelity, marriages etc because we got a slice of all that and not enough to make it whole.
Very negative film
asheikh-14 August 2019
I watched this film on the SkyDrama channel under the genre description Comedy, Drama. Was well acted but found very little or no comedy, though well performed. Extremely sad as the characters lives are considerably more privileged than a lot of people who have fought hard to overcome great or even greater obstacles. It does show goodness in people but felt it threw out quite a negative message overall
Not a Story - But a Mood
canniballife-7839626 December 2019
One of those movies where the backstory is probably more interesting than what we get to see. Medina's father - a serial adulterer - must have promised that he would hit the "reset" button when the family moved to California from Michigan. But it turns out that there are just as many attractive, unattached women in Palos Verdes as anywhere else - and Medina's mother continues to spiral down into depression: desperately in love with a husband who constantly make her look like a fool.
And so a family unravels. Not so much a story. More of a mood.
There is nothing original in this narrative., We have heard it all, and seen it all, before. As many times as we see it, it is sad to watch - but the heart of the story is how each family member handles the trauma. Who's going to make it through. And who is not.
Familiar ground, as I said, but beautifully acted and shot. Convincing from beginning to end - with a sharp kind of slap as these closed incestuous communities.
On a personal note, a little startling to see our "Clueless" girl - Alicia Silverstone - now playing the mother of a college-age son. Where did the time go, you wonder. And you're reminded why we don't see more of her. She is not, technically speaking, an actress. It's just Alicia Silverstone as "herself". It's the only role she knows how to play.
Don't Waste Your Time
actorgal128 November 2018
I often wonder when I labor through a terrible film, who approved this?
This film is plodding, incredibly pedestrian and predictable. You knew what was going to happen to one of the characters about eight minutes into the film. Unfortunately, I kept watching. I now wonder, was it morbid curiousity? Or was part of me waiting for it to get better?
When did Jennifer Garner become such a raving, out of control lunatic? First this ridiculous portrayal, who knew what she was doing in this one and now the same unlikability in her character in Camping?
It is not effective, it is just annoying.
If an actor is out of control and at 11 for the entire performance, where can they go? It just remains one note, not creative and definitely not watchable. There are so many problematic issues in the script and in the acting. ACTING 101, Don't play the problem, explore opposites. For God's sake, did you miss that day in class actors? Where have all the directors gone?
The biggest problem for me is that the "children", and I use that term very loosely, are too old to have the reaction that they did to their father's choices. If they had been 12 or 13, at the height of adolescense, I would have beleived the extreme reactions of the son. There was never a big enough reason for the son't reaction and spiral down, not really. They barely touched the surface and just assumed that we would "get it". I hate that. That is LAZY filmmaking/writing and acting. These "children" as coddled as they were and entitled with money, position and being spoiled rotten, were still on the edge of adulthood and in this day of expendable marriages, the divorce should have not been treated as such a travesty. It is what it is, money, entitlement and selfishness make people do things that hurt others, we get that...next. Sorry, hopefully I will help save a few hours in someone else's life, I wish I could get the hours back that I wasted watching this dreary, dull, diatribe.
If an actor is out of control and at 11 for the entire performance, where can they go? It just remains one note, not creative and definitely not watchable. There are so many problematic issues in the script and in the acting. ACTING 101, Don't play the problem, explore opposites. For God's sake, did you miss that day in class actors? Where have all the directors gone?
The biggest problem for me is that the "children", and I use that term very loosely, are too old to have the reaction that they did to their father's choices. If they had been 12 or 13, at the height of adolescense, I would have beleived the extreme reactions of the son. There was never a big enough reason for the son't reaction and spiral down, not really. They barely touched the surface and just assumed that we would "get it". I hate that. That is LAZY filmmaking/writing and acting. These "children" as coddled as they were and entitled with money, position and being spoiled rotten, were still on the edge of adulthood and in this day of expendable marriages, the divorce should have not been treated as such a travesty. It is what it is, money, entitlement and selfishness make people do things that hurt others, we get that...next. Sorry, hopefully I will help save a few hours in someone else's life, I wish I could get the hours back that I wasted watching this dreary, dull, diatribe.
A solid Film About American Wealth
emailtombuchanan1 January 2019
Warning: Spoilers
A wealthy family moves to Palos Verdes along the California coast when the father, a prominent heart surgeon, takes a new job to help the family start over after apparent infidelity issues. But he soon takes up with another woman, leaving his wife and twin 17 year old son and daughter in the lurch. The mother struggles with depression and mental illness, and the son falls into abusive drug use. The daughter narrates the film as the sole sane member of the disintegrating family. Surfing plays a minor role in this beautifully told and photographed film. It probably pairs nicely with Force Majeure (subtitles) simply because both films have a similar texture and deal with failed marriages.
Just no......
Kurt_Bludgeon6 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Don't usually do the "negative review" thing, but this was truly awful.
Four leads equally cliched, acting all moody but really just looking at the middle distance.
Our heroine surfs her way to happiness - no she doesn't, she looks at the sea. In some crappy movies, the stunning surf action lifts the whole film - not here! Look! There's the legendary local surfer!! Err, that's it!
Brother has issues, falls in with bad crowd, takes drugs.
Mum has issues - goes from 0 - 60 in one minute.
Dad has issues -moves out, says nothing.
Nothing happening? Quick some ambient music!
Not one character speaks in a remotely realistic way.
Our heroine has atmospheric sex with rich boy, but keeps pants on and uses quilt strategically.
In one word - trite!
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