Review of Summer Things

Introduction

To me, families holidaying together once you`re no longer 10-years old anymore isn`t a particularly shiny image. Going to the coast, packed in the back seat with two younger siblings, vying for more elbowroom, whilst being bored, is just the trip itself. The differences here are the people and teenagers - except for the baby that cries at every turn - are obsessed with bedroom antics. Welcome to a French holiday farce...

Video

Presented with a 1.85:1 widescreen enhanced video transfer, Summer Things looks good despite looking a touch soft. Colours are rendered well, as is the detail and I couldn`t see any problems with the transfer.

Audio

Being a dialogue driven film, the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack here works well, but it`s only a stereo track. Dialogue is clear from the centre and I couldn`t hear any problems with the sound.

Features

Easy to navigate static menus with just two extras:

• Featurette (widescreen enhanced) - This is a collection of vignettes with Director Michel Blanc talking over production stills. He talks about the baby, his cast as well as his filming dislikes and relays little anecdotes too. It`s different to what I had expected but good nonetheless. Like all good things, it`s a tad too short.

• Trailer (widescreen enhanced) (1:31) - A trailer, like the film, that manages to cram in a lot of scenes and amusing one-liners.

• Other Releases (widescreen enhanced) (1:45) - A trailer for Swimming Pool

The rather large English subtitles are burned in and can`t be switched off.

Conclusion

Crikey, if you want dysfunction you`ve come to the right place. Each character has some screen time and just watching the interactions you begin to wonder if the filmmaker`s trying to cram as much misadventure in as possible; in the space of 90 odd minutes so much happens. There`s plenty of rivalry and jealousy wrapped around immoral characters in this seaside farce; nothing bad there because despite its silliness, it`s still a fun romp for the most part of 90-minutes.

Character wise there`s no one outstanding; though it`s still sometimes disarming to hear Charlotte Rampling speak French. Director Michel Blanc finds time to act in front of the camera as an incredibly possessive husband and Véronique (Karin Viard) as the irritating woman that wants what her friends have plays irritating down to a tee, while the rest, well the rest play their parts.

There`s good video and sound, but a poor showing on the extras front. Summer Things might not be original, but it is entertaining.