California Dreaming

This is one of those movies I hope to see again. I often surf the internet hoping to find this movie released on DVD. A great soundtrack, a good cast and an interesting angle on growing up... surf style. Includes the best recording of "California Dreamin" extent, and the instrumental "Brothers Theme" is haunting! The sub plot of re-living the glory days by an over the hill surfer in contrast with the adolescence of the kids around him provides sort of a retrospective view of life. It is a deeper movie than it seems to be on the surface, which makes the comedy funnier, and the sad moments even more so, kind of like a good episode of MASH. A cleaned up 5.1 enhanced DVD release of this movie would be most welcome by me!

This movie starts out like some light hearted goof. I thought it was going to be like caddyshack or meatballs or something. Then about half way through, I'm getting into it. It feels like a bunch of people I know, and its almost like hanging out with them. As the movie winds down toward the end of summer, you can feel it like a kid who just wants 20 more minutes before he has to go to bed. The drama starts to creep into the comedy and you never see it coming. Finally, you get blindsided and before you know it, you're moved almost to tears. Someone said it felt more like 75 than 79. I agree. It actually felt older than that, except for the cars. Great movie.