ALMOST SUMMER (1978) - Andy's Kino Lorber Blu-Ray Review

[AndyDursin]

6/10

Amenable high school comedy from the age when 30-something actors could play teenagers and nobody really seemed to mind. Martin "Lords of Flatbush" Davidson's movie finds a series of characters in the midst of a class presidential election, including win-at-all-costs strategist Bruno Kirby, his ex-girlfriend Lee Purcell, jock Tim Matheson (a few months before "Animal House" launched him into stardom), relative unknown John Friedrich ("The Wanderers") and Kirby's younger, gawky teen sister Didi Conn, whose name gets placed in a little box coming off her role in "Grease." The first half of "Almost Summer" is awash with pedestrian comedic hyjinks but the movie improves substantially in its more dramatic concluding portion, leading to a nicely rendered, poignant finale. The music score, meanwhile, is quite pleasant with Mike Love delivering an appropriately Beach Boys-ian original title tune, co-written by Brian Wilson himself, that makes this Motown/Universal co-production mildly diverting, if completely a relic of its time.

Scorpion's Blu-Ray includes a new 2K master (1.85) of what looks like a somewhat worn-down source; given the movie's scant plays on home video over the years, though, this should come as little surprise. Extras are terrific, including a half-hour "remote" interview with Tim Matheson that plays as much of a career retrospective as it is a look at this film's production. Longer on-camera conversations are included with director Martin Davidson; his wife, costume designer Sandra; and Lee Purcell, who definitely doesn't look 74! The mono audio is fine and the trailer is also included for a minor sleeper that's worth a look, especially for nostalgic viewers.