“I’ve got three nipples. Three. No one knows about that, but no one’s ever asked me before. I guess it’s about time I got it off my chest.”
– Bill Paxton
It’s a reunion movie: a group of thirtysomethings are invited back to the summer camp they all attended as children for one last week before the camp closes. Friendships are rekindled, old secrets come out, couples break up and come together, amid much reminiscing and replaying of the pleasures of youth.
Quiet and sweet, this movie seems more intent on evoking a mood of time and place than developing any compelling plot elements. And it works just fine that way; it’s a little mental summer vacation. Bill plays Jack Belston, the only kid who was ever kicked out of Camp Tamakwa, the wild child no one ever expected to see again. There are hints of a rough past, but no details, and his “secret,” when it finally comes out, isn’t particularly shocking. So just sit back and relax and watch him run and play and act like a kid.
Bill is a total knockout babe in this one, and I’m still trying to figure out just how he did it. Is it the long hair? The skimpy bathing suits and sleeveless tee-shirts? Natural sunlight? Not that he’s not good-looking, but he doesn’t usually make me wonder what Planet of the Studmuffins he’s from. He can do Cute. He can definitely do Sexy. But how often does he do “Just Shut Up and Stand There, I’m Not Done Looking At You Yet”? And this is one of the sweetie-pie roles, too. He’s all diffident and giggly and schoolboy-ish. No outright nude scene, but lots o’ skin, and charming little romance.
Eight stars, just for Bill being so stunningly gorgeous.