Summer ’03

Summer ’03 follows 16-year-old Jamie (Joey King) as she embarks on a journey of self-discovery after her grandmother dies, with the narrative detailing the impact that Jamie’s exploits ultimately have on such periphery figures as Jack Kilmer’s Luke and Paul Scheer’s Ned. It’s hard to deny that first-time filmmaker Becca Gleason does a superb job of instantly capturing the viewer’s attention, as Summer ’03 kicks off with a silly yet captivating stretch wherein the aforementioned grandmother (June Squibb’s Dotty) delivers a series of blunt, brutal truths to her gathered family members – with the effectiveness of this first act heightened by King’s impressively affable turn as the personable central character. There’s little doubt, then, that the movie’s subsequent shift into its progressively generic midsection is, to say the least, rather disappointing, as Gleason’s screenplay is increasingly dominated by the various conventions one has come to associate with the coming-of-age genre – with the less-than-fresh feel compounded by a continuing emphasis on eye-rollingly off-the-wall elements (including Ned’s efforts at tracking down his birth father). The degree to which Summer ’03 eventually fizzles out is nothing short of astonishing, and it’s fairly apparent, in the end, that King’s charismatic turn deserved much, much better material.

* out of ****