And Then Came Summer

It's really sad that this film is so horrible. It's obvious that a lot of love, care, and energy went into the making of it. The actors, according to the extras on the DVD, really loved the venture, putting a great deal of themselves into this film. Problem is the script is dreadful, with a few exceptions the acting is horrible, and the direction is so poor that you'll walk away from this film wishing for your time and your money back.

The main problem is that all the good things in the story -- the abduction, the relationship between the brothers and the fathers and the teens in love -- are just plopped down in front with no sense of drama, care, or even thrill. The most interesting bit of the movie, the abduction of one of the characters, wasn't even in the theatrical release according to the DVD. What could have gotten the film off to a bang and left the audience curious, wondering what was going on, invested in the film, never happens. We're left wondering what went wrong with the writing, the directing and everything else.

Jesse Petrick just isn't up to the task of carrying the film. He's -acting- the whole time without an honest note to his performance. Mathieu Smith does an admirable job with his more complicated role. For a first timer, he walk away with his scenes with Petrick. It's a shame that Smith hasn't, as far as IMDB says, had any more work.

Overall, wait for cable. Then hold your breath. The movie is a lot better if you are oxygen deprived and hallucinating good performances and a script that makes sense.

This film could quite possibly be one of the worst, written and acted gay feature film in recent memory. The number of Great gay features that do not receive video Distribution in North America (Mala Noche anyone??) Make the release of this appalling feature an even more bitter pill to swallow.

All in all it's a total 'B' movie. The story is weak. The filming is college level. The acting is ok. The ending 10 minutes brought tears to my eyes. Seth's struggle is heart breaking.

I have to feel a bit of sadness for the producers, cast and crew of 10% Productions "And Then Came Summer." I mean, their hearts were all in the right place... they wanted to make a nice, light, coming-of-age story about two boys who, very naturally, fall in love. The idea is sweet, and the intentions are good. The outcome, however, is a vastly different matter. Unfortunately, "And Then Came Summer" falls into just about every trap that face amateur filmmakers face. The script is an unsubstantial mess, with no build, no interesting dialogue and non-existant character development. The acting is really poor all the way around - either totally wooden or completely overdone, often times both in the same scene. The camerawork is attrocious; certain scenes were filmed so ineptly that it literally made the film difficult to watch. The inclusion of Anthony J. Domingues as the younger brother is perhaps the worst casting mistake in the history of Hollywood... this kid looks not a the thing like his father and older brother (was he adopted or something? If so, the script never gets around to mentioning it.) And, most of all, the film's treatment of women is borderline offensive... the caring aunt is a pie-baking marm so sweet that I almost lapsed into diabetic shock, and the brief appearance by the gossipy neighbor is so dense it's nearly laughable. It used to be enough to simply make a "gay movie." But (thankfully) there are more and more films in the gay genre being made. This ups the ante, and slapping together a film like "And Then Came Summer" just doesn't cut it anymore. Budget be damned, a film needs to be ABOUT something. It needs to still be well-acted and directed professionally. And it needs to draw in the audience with a script and characters that are pertinent and revelatory. This films tries, but, sadly, achieves none of these benchmarks. It's too bad... I really wanted to like this film!

Why isn't JF Davis, who played Brian, David's hunky father, listed in the cast? Was it so bad that he didn't want to be associated with the film? I was hoping Brian and Tommy would get together (especially the scene with the wine). That's okay, that is what fantasies are for! I agree with the other commenter about the brother of David, Ricky. He just didn't fit in, and that was not what I would call "acting", unless he was acting as a bad actor.

It was just.....

Average. I would give it a C+, but strictly for including the gorgeous actor who played Tommy.