mrsramonastephens
This movie is far from the Academy Awards but I have to tell you as a true native and being approximately 12 years old when this movie takes place it is very close to what was actually happening at the time.. I am still here I'm still in Ocean City native and it left me a little confused/ disoriented between the screen takes that was all over the place of Ocean City but keeping that aside I can tell you that when I was 12 years old this was fairly close to what I grew up with in Ocean City Maryland. I am now almost applicable to AARP and things have changed so much but this movie brought back so many memories to when I was young dumb and stupid. Now I'm just old, dumn, and stupid. The only thing I really wish they would have concentrate on at some point in the movie is the trimpers rides and games. And also the local so-called haunted places that were opened up well within the Ocean City Maryland Town Incorporation that they featured in the movie but didn't explain. We have a rich history especially between the women and the Black American community that this film did not touch on
gregking4
An entertaining coming of age tale and underdog story that combines elements of last year's superb The Way Way Back with elements of the 80's classic The Karate Kid. Ping Pong Summer deals with some universal themes of alienation, loneliness, friendship, embarrassing families, bullies, first crushes and first kisses, and standing up for yourself, that will resonate strongly with audiences. Rad Miracle (newcomer Marcello Conte) is obsessed with ping pong and hip hop dancing. He is a little surly when the family heads off for its annual summer holiday at the beach side town of Ocean City. Lonely, Rad wanders the streets of the seaside town, until he meets Teddy (another newcomer in Myles Massey), another lonely teen on holidays. Together they discover the joys of the Fun Hub, a boardwalk arcade full of video games and activities. But it is there that he is also humiliated by the town bully, the snotty rich kid Lyle (Joseph McCaughtry), on the ping pong table. Rad challenges Lyle to a rematch, but has no idea how to beat him until he gets some unexpected help from his eccentric next door neighbour, who is dubbed the local weirdo by the neighbourhood kids. There is a semi-autobiographical element to Ping Pong Summer, and writer/director Michael Tully captures the 80s vibe strongly through the use of costumes, music and even the archaic arcade video games. The script is full of homages to the 80s and almost overdoses on nostalgia. Also casting Lea Thompson (from the classic Back To The Future trilogy) as Rad's mother evokes the mid-80s period. Newcomer Conte delivers a nice performance as the awkward, virginal but immensely likable Rad, and Massey is engaging as the extroverted Teddy. Oscar winner Susan Sarandon has little to do in a stereotyped role as the wonderfully named Randi Jammer, but she is superb and brings a touch of authority to the material.
niutta-enrico
This film is weird: deeply original under many respects and unbelievably ordinary under others. It's the story of a young boy who is initiated to tennis table (and to love) during a summer vacation with his family. The estranging atmosphere of the 80s is depicted very well and the everyday life of a boy from a family with no means is also rendered in a surprisingly realistic way for a comedy.Everything is nice and funny until you realize that you are watching the most predictable and clichéd plot you can imagine. This will not completely spoil the thing for you but will leave you at least surprised: so many ideas (starting from the head titles in three different styles) and such a poor ending.Visual stuff, characters and dialogues, however, are too good to shoot this film down.
rcantabile
Let's be honest, this is a terrible movie. What an odd mix of veteran actors (Susan Sarandon, Leah Thompson etc.) quite literally smashing up against terrible novices like the lead character's sidekick, Myles Massey. I continue to be amazed that people are actually paid to cast movies and they come up with bad actors all the time. The sidekick role is crucial here, yet they choose a kid who can't act. Go figure. Watching Sarandon, John Hannah and Leah Thompson attempt to add some flow to the movie while working with terrible actors reminds me of Natalie Portman struggling with Robot Hayden Christensen in the Star Wars prequels. I guess it has something to do with movie budget; perhaps they ran out of money after paying Sarandon, Hannah and Thompson.Every once it awhile we see some promise, as when Rad and his family visit his Aunt and her husband. Amy Sedaris and Robert Longstreet show how it's done and provide a hint of what the movie might have been. Also Rad's sister was more than adequate in her role.All this aside, the movie does well with costumes and general 1980s era eastern shore vibe, that's about it. The pacing is excruciating as we wait for lead character Rad to meet up with Susan Sarandon and when he finally does, it's almost a throwaway scene and before you know it we're (mercifully) at the finish line.If the director was attempting some sort of filmmaking homage, I missed it completely. So much more could have been done for the eastern shore/Ocean City in a movie like this. I'm being brutally honest when I say that all during the movie I kept thinking how I could have rounded up some buddies and a mini HD camera and done a much better job. I kid you not. It's that bad.
AD
