Back to the Beach

Directed by Lyndall Hobbs, Back to the Beach follows Frankie Avalon’s Big Kahuna Annette Funicello’s Annette as they slowly-but-surely embrace their party-heavy pasts during a family vacation to the beach. Filmmaker Hobbs, armed with Peter Krikes, Steve Meerson, and Christopher Thompson’s screenplay, delivers an affable yet terminally erratic comedy that contains just as many lulls as it does effective stretches, as the movie’s been saddled with an episodic narrative that contains distressingly little in the way of forward momentum – with the slow-moving first half certainly not doing the arms-length atmosphere any favors (ie let’s get to the beach, already). It’s clear, then, that Back to the Beach benefits from an overall vibe of (irresistible) lightheartedness and several memorable interludes and sequences, including a terrific late-in-the-game appearance by Pee-wee Herman, while Avalon and Funicello’s agreeable work, which is matched by an eclectic supporting cast that includes Lori Loughlin and Connie Stevens, generally proves effective at alleviating the far-from-consistent storyline – with the final result a decent-enough endeavor that seems likely to appeal more to fans of the beach-party genre than neophytes.

**1/2 out of ****