Growing up in the 70's and early 80's, the world was a different place; Grabbing a cheap flight on Southwest Airlines and heading to Orlando's Disney World wasn't an option for low-to-moderate income families in Rhode Island. The only thing that any kid could look forward to every summer was going to Rocky Point in Warwick, RI to satisfy the cravings of the ever-calling amusement park.
Director Bettencourt, with assistance from Gray (and local celebs Buddy Cianci and Tony Petrarca), provide an honest and sometimes heartbreaking portrait of the area's first theme park. The film-makers developed an intricate outline to their film, which was adhered to at all times. Concentrating on particular subjects in a regimented fashion, the film details the Park's early history, the hurricanes that once tore the location's structures down, and the fight to restore the grounds. The film provides the "highs" of the park in its heyday (with a visit from President George Bush in 1989) to the "lows" of the park's closing and subsequent auction in 1996, with reflections by former park employees, and nostalgic park visitors.
Anyone who ever visited the park will absolutely love this film, as the photos and video bring back the most vivid of childhood (and adult) memories, always keeping a light at the end of the tunnel, even though none of us will ever be able to fathom the disappointment of the park's closing...While Rocky Point, itself, was a regional, cultural icon with a limited audience in New England, Bettencourt and company recapture an era to which even non-New England viewers should be able to relate.
Director Bettencourt, with assistance from Gray (and local celebs Buddy Cianci and Tony Petrarca), provide an honest and sometimes heartbreaking portrait of the area's first theme park. The film-makers developed an intricate outline to their film, which was adhered to at all times. Concentrating on particular subjects in a regimented fashion, the film details the Park's early history, the hurricanes that once tore the location's structures down, and the fight to restore the grounds. The film provides the "highs" of the park in its heyday (with a visit from President George Bush in 1989) to the "lows" of the park's closing and subsequent auction in 1996, with reflections by former park employees, and nostalgic park visitors.
Anyone who ever visited the park will absolutely love this film, as the photos and video bring back the most vivid of childhood (and adult) memories, always keeping a light at the end of the tunnel, even though none of us will ever be able to fathom the disappointment of the park's closing...While Rocky Point, itself, was a regional, cultural icon with a limited audience in New England, Bettencourt and company recapture an era to which even non-New England viewers should be able to relate.
