Fresh
Although writer-director Liz W. Garcia's wistful, angsty tale treads familiar ground, the filmmaker has crafted a credibly flawed and conflicted heroine who holds interest.
Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times
The Lifeguard
This Summer Growing Up is Optional
2013 · 1h 38m · R
Comedy, Drama, Romance
Directed by
Liz W. Garcia
Overview
A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager.
Director and cast
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
13%
Tomatometer
Rotten
The central character simply comes across as whiny and entitled instead of troubled and dark, and the central theme of getting your groove back by acting like a kid again has been done many times by much more talented filmmakers.
Kyle Smith, New York Post
Rotten
The movie really depends on Bell, and her story, and neither is interesting or compelling enough to engage us.
Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger
Rotten
This directorial debut by Liz W. Garcia, a writer for television, bears some echoes of its creator's origins, going from deft to trite in its drama and setting up character arcs that feel sappily resolved within its feature length.
Nicolas Rapold, New York Times
Rotten
The movie's being billed in some quarters as a comedy, which is a hell of a stretch given that the plot expands to take in statutory rape and teen suicide.
Ty Burr, Boston Globe
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