And Then Came Summer (2000)

A reunion of family and friends becomes an unforgettable vacation when two teenage boys discover their feelings for each other, only to be found out by their families.

Director:

Jeff London

Writer:

Jeff London

Stars:

Patrick Webber, Tim Madonna, Holly Waddell

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Patrick Webber	...	Young Brian-8mm
Tim Madonna	...	Young Tommy-8mm
Holly Waddell	...	Young Jennifer-8mm
Mathieu Smith	...	Seth
Gregory Guzman	...	Seth's friend
Alane Whitmore	...	Seth's Mom
Peter Welkin	...	Lead abductor
Alec Call	...	Abductor
Richard Viscariello	...	Abductor
Jesse Petrick	...	David
Jeff Davis	...	Brian (as JF Davis)
Anthony J. Domingues	...	Ricky
Phyllis Rodenberger	...	Lillian
Jeremy Douglas	...	Tommy (as Jeremy D. Johnson)
Rusty Burns	...	Kathy

Storyline

In this story of sexual discovery and the resulting fallout that might happen within a family, a reunion vacation becomes unforgettable when two teenage boys discover their feelings for each other, only to be found out by their friends and relatives. When the relationship is discovered, so is another startling piece of information, that one of the families had previously institutionalized their son for reparative therapy because of his homosexuality.

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Plot Keywords:

teenage boy | homosexuality | reparative therapy | gay teenager | conversion therapy | 

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Taglines:

Life was simple and then came summer

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Ten Percent Productions [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 July 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Family Reunion

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$28,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

10% Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min (DVD)

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The scene where Seth is crying in the church wasn't originally planned in the movie. The script initially called for Seth on/nearby a cliff, but due to harsh weather conditions at that time, forced the filmmakers to improvise.

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Quotes

Seth: Look, David, I'm... I'm really sorry.
David: Sorry? About what?
Seth: [sighs] I'm sorry that you ever got involved with me. I'm sorry your brother saw us. I'm sorry everything is such a mess right now.
David: It's not your fault. It's just the way life is, right? Look, I don't know what to think about all this, Seth. I don't. Everything I know, everything I've been told, says it's wrong. But what happened the other night it felt right. It did. I'm so screwed up right now.
[coughs]
David: I feel like my insides are being ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

We believe in a world of love, compassion and mutual respect, a world free from fear, discrimination and prejudice. Each year we donate 10% of our profits to non-profit organizations who work to further this vision.

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Alternate Versions

The DVD features the original opening scene of the movie where Seth's mom tricks him, making him abducted by the group of men who takes him into the insitution.

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Connections

Featured in And Then Came Summer: Out Takes (2005)

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Soundtracks

Nocturne C Minor
Written by Frédéric Chopin
Performed by Greg Locher

User Reviews

Beneath the Plodding Script and Lack of Editing Lies a Story Worth Telling

Jeff London wrote, directed, and produced this little Indie film, and had he assumed only one of the duties, the result would probably have been a much better movie. The running time is 115 minutes and could have easily been edited down to about 85 minutes by excluding the corniest 'homey scenes' with Aunt Lillian sharing pie recipes and girl talk that add nothing to the plot and only tire the viewer.

David (Jesse Petrick) and his little brother Ricky (Anthony J. Domingues) have traveled with their divorced father Brian (Jeff Davis) from their big city home to Brian's beach hometown to visit Aunt Lillian (Phyllis Rodenberger) for the summer. As this seemingly happy family (though broken by divorce) settles in, and Brian reunites with his old buddy Tommy (Jeremy Douglas) who has taken in his younger brother Seth (Mathieu Smith) as a favor to his family, the reason for the change of home will be revealed later. As Brian and Tommy re-bond, both having losses in their lives since their boyhood, David and Seth get to know each other and gradually discover an attraction that goes beyond friendship. After a tender and quiet kiss at night on the beach, they acknowledge their attraction, only to be betrayed by the threat young Ricky poses as he declares he will inform David's father of his brother's perversion! The boys confront their feelings with the David's father and Seth's brother and find acceptance and unconditional love from families mature enough to accept them. Seth reveals his several month's history of 'rehabilitation clinic for gays' experience which led to his moving in with his brother Tommy and the bigotry and tragedy of that event solidly bonds all of the families during the summer referenced in the title.

Much has been said about the amateur acting in this film, but for this viewer the acting on the part of the four main characters is not at all weak: the direction is flaccid and begs for focus and tightening of scenes that would have made the edited down version of this film a very moving story. An additional annoyance is the insipid music score (piano only) that breaks into 'Simple Gifts' at the most inappropriate time. But the message of acceptance of gay boys coming out is handled well and has enough original thought and subtlety to merit watching. Grady Harp