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Really Surprised!

Fresh and Exciting

An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

I actually loved this movie. I was just browsing through netflix when I came across this. I thought that it would be an easy going pre-teen based movie, where the girls get up to girly things. I thought it would be similar to 'An American Girl' movies, which I like to watch. However it was completely different. The movie didn't require a high budget or A-list actors to tell a good story about little girls experiencing big world problems. I really enjoyed the movie and thought that it was really gripping. All the girls were very nice to each other which also inspired me. They dealt with their problems in a very appropriate way which I admired.

I had the misfortune of being subjected to this ...'film' at a house today, while I was working. I love Tim Daly and Valerie Mahaffey, but...this was just plain awful. Acting was terrible, directing, characters...there was nothing good about this movie...Thankfully I left after an hour of working in the house, so don't know what happened with the big audition, or other completely contrived situations or characters...I was horrified that preteens and teens were watching this and thought it was good! My daughter would have turned it off in about 4 seconds or watched it only to make fun of it...awful!! Okay, you need ten lines of text...how many more times can I write awful??

Joseph Kell is a writer-director to be reckoned with. His vision and talent were already apparent in his wonderful short, "Cassie Hill" and his talents as a first rate storyteller come to full fruition in "Summer Eleven". A deceptively simple screenplay with first rate performances, mostly by children, this film hits on so many real subjects that most of us try to avoid, as seen through the eyes (and lives) of innocents kids. And yet, there is an overall sweetness and tenderness in the midst of pain, heartache and anguish that is all too real. One of the most human movies I've seen in a long time, with traces of Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me" This film is a complicated puzzle put together so masterfully, it hits you like a light poem that washes over you, yet changes you in some profound way. Who says film can't be art? SPOILER: Northern Exposure fans will relish the on screen reunion of genius actors Adam Arkin and Valerie Mahaffey. I did.

This movie is a throwback to classic movies like Stand by Me: a tender, involving character-based coming of age story of four young girls. It is serious, yet with touches of humor here and there.The story line involves four girlfriends in their 11th summer, right before they enter middle school. The four girls include Vanessa (Alice Ziolkoski), an up-and-coming young actress who is amazingly unspoiled (probably because her mother, played very well by Valerie Mahaffey, keeps her feet firmly planted on the ground). Jess (Sarah Butterworth) is a young tomboy whose main concerns in life are her absent father and her mother's annoying live-in boyfriend. Lizzie (Meaghan Hughes) is the nerd of the group, a reader in glasses who is small for her age; but she must deal with some of the biggest issues there are when her older brother comes home wounded from Iraq. And Peri (Sydney Fox), brought into the group by Vanessa, is dealing with her own difficult issues: an unemployed mother who lives with her and her brother out of her car.Yes, that's a lot of "issues." However, a film that might have become like four Movies of the Week rolled into one, somehow finds cohesion because of some delicate writing, as well as some very good, naturalistic acting by the four young actresses. Not to denigrate the adult actors; they are good, too (including Adam Arkin in a charming cameo); but the movie hangs on the able performances of the four young actresses. As examples of the good writing: When Vanessa's mom invites Peri's mom to stay in her guest house, it's done gently, with humor and sensitivity. When Lizzie's older brother finally comes out of his shell, once again, the light, deft touch of a master writer and good acting saved it from being a schmaltz-fest. Certain other hackneyed story lines were thankfully avoided (having the other girls compete with Vanessa for acting gigs, for example).Sometimes, the "issues" did seem to drag the viewer down into the "issue-mill," and things threatened to get a little depressing. However, scenes like that were always followed by light, delicate scenes between the four girls that seemed so REAL. One scene where the girls are swinging on a tree rope reminded me very much of my childhood summers where we did similar things. Another scene between the four girls and two of their boy "friends" gave me the chills, it seemed so real.If I were going to be picky, I could have done without the final scene of the movie, where one of the girls' concerns is wrapped up a little too neatly. However, over all, this was an extremely well-written and acted ensemble piece. There are very few PG-rated family movies of this quality these days. This is one I would highly recommend, especially for mothers and daughters to watch together. 9/10