Gidget

What is up, fellow teenagers? Gidget, the girl midget (can't get that out of my head), is memely surrounded by a bunch of 30YO guys who teach her to surf and accomplish other life milestones while she so-earnestly has to deal with beleaguered parents! I wish I saw more of her friend BL who was the only sane person. This was very idealized '50s with nobody darker than a light cappuccino, beautiful cars, and sexy high-waisted swimsuits. Fav scenes: chest exercises; dad dropping lamb leg on foot.

Enjoyable, sweet-natured teeny bopper flick is surprisingly forward in its depiction of 'beach culture', and even quietly subversive in its gender politics, aided by Dee's lovely performance as a girl who just wants to be 'one of the guys'; ultimately develops along fairly predictable lines, and sags in the final act as it shifts focus to a rivalry between Darren and Robertson while sidelining Dee. Unexpectedly more going on here than its reputation (or poster) suggests.

A bunch of 30 year olds trying to have sex with a very clueless 16 year old, coupled with a lot of 1950s lessons that are fun to watch as an artifact but embarrassing to think about. For awhile this almost felt like propaganda for young people but I'll accept that 1959 was possibly just a simpler, dumber time

As cheesy as cheesy 50's movies get, it features three solid lead performances, a lot of out-of-place musical numbers (despite not being a musical) and surprisingly decent humor for the most part. The plot is pretty bare-bones, and it's a product of its time in every way, but overall it's entertaining enough. The third act raises some sketchy questions that never really get answered, which was irritating, & the pace starts to drag around the halfway point. All-in-all, worth seeing once.

Featuring Cliff Robertson as "the Big Kahuna." Except for his name, this is all dreary and unnecessary.

This movie was terrible. Why do people like it?

Presented in a super-wide panavision transfer, this beach comedy is sweet and fun.