The Lifeguard

This is a movie about love and relationships and I think everyone should see it. Love because it reminds us that you can’t help who you fall in love with, and relationships because as an audience member you experience both sides of every joy and every conflict in the myriad of relationships the writers and actors presented. This film isn’t about what is right and what is wrong, it’s about understanding, human understanding, and you’ll either get that, or you won’t. The film is well made, has good and sometimes even great acting, the cinematography and the music were also very well done. But the message at the heart of this film is understanding and we all know we need to be more understanding of others, to stop and listen, hear what the other person is really saying. So watch it, if you get it this will likely become a fav, if you don’t, that’s okay, but if you don’t get it stop with the adolescent holiness diatribes. Try watching it without judging the scenes so harshly and unfairly.

This is a sweet movie, with quite a few funny moments. The acting is great, and easy to watch, allowing the viewer to fall right into the story with the characters. There aren't a lot of visuals in this movie - no special effects, nor mesmerizing camera shots. But the story and characters carry you all the way through. It leans toward being a chick flick, but has quite a few guy moments. Both men and women can identify with Kristen Bell, either directly, or as their girlfriend or acquaintance in their lives. A fun movie about real life.

Nothing about this movie is redeeming. If the situations were reversed and it was a 29 year old man encouraging a 16 year old girl to drink beer, smoke pot, and then have a sexual relationship with him nobody would think it was "deep" or "meaningful". He'd rightfully be considered a predator, which in reality is what Kristen Bell's character is. Granted, she isn't supposed to a predatory pedophile but then most predatory pedophiles don't consider themselves to be either. I usually love Kristen Bell, but, gross. Just, gross. The cops were portrayed in a negative light for (nicely) telling a bunch of drop-out highschool aged kids to stop skating on private store property. Bell gets involved and is a heroine for being a passive-aggressive twerp to the officers for "harassing underage children." (this is after she provides many of those same minors with alcohol and smokes pot with them, but before she shacks up with one). Earlier in the movie she loses her shizz on some 10 year old kids and screams in their (yes, obnoxious) faces because they didn't leave a public bathroom when she told them to. The hypocrisy apparently didn't occur to the movie makers or to Bell's character. Is this is the garbage morality that Hollywood is peddling nowadays? I know Hollywood is full of self-satisifed elitists who believe they are above the rest of humanity and neither laws nor morals should apply to them, but how low can you sink? 0 stars if I could for this trash.

This was so much more than I expected. It caught me on many levels. Life is complex and so many of us are just trying to get through this life. As noted by others, the acting was top-notch. It deals with disturbing issues at times, but in the end it is the human spirit and love of friends and family that comes through.

The reason why I love movies like this so much is because you never know where they are truly going just like in real life. Now some people say this movie doesn't seem realistic at all because of the adults hanging out with minors, sleeping with them, drinking and doing drugs. But you would be surprised sometimes people only let people see what they want them to see. The whole thing how it was immature of leigh to sleep with the 16 year old boy that's ridiculous he is not a child, and to the people who are saying he is a immature drop out and skateboarder are so ignorant not all people who drop out are dumb. If you had paid attention to the movie you would see that they were all going through the same things in their lives.. age does not make a difference. They all felt lost within their lives unhappy with them and felt as if they had no purpose. We all go through that every once in awhile whether you want to admit to it or not, we do. A long the way the helped each other out through this hard time in their lives and got through it whether it be quitting your job and starting over fresh, moving away and starting your own life etc. I think the moral of this story is that no matter where you are who you are with or even how old you are, there will be times you will feel lost. We are all humans no matter what and actually I liked that leigh and little J had a romance because they helped each other a long the way of finding where their next path in life was.. that's just how life is sometimes people will come in for a certain purpose and some will stay and some will go either way everything happens for a reason.Another reason why I love movies like this is because they aren't your typical movie you would see in the theaters where you know how its going to end because in real life that's how everyone's life is unknown of the future or last page in the script.

This review is not for the movie, which I feel is weak in all ways, other than the fact that I love looking at Kristen Bell. How this was a Sundance Festival selection is FAR beyond me. Ok, there was a bit of a movie critique. Anyway, the REST of this review is for the quality and value of the blu-ray ONLY, as I already owned this on DVD. Opening this blu-ray, the outer artwork is nice, but the disc was plain-looking-- and is the first blu-ray out of several hundred that I own without the famous blu-ray logo on it. It instead says "Blu-ray" in words. Unlike the DVD, there is no picture of Kristen Bell or any artwork on the label. Just some verbiage. The underside of the blu-ray disc was a negative surprise in that it is not "burned" to the edges, but it stops about 1/4" from the edge. Like someone had recorded this at home, and NOT used all of the disc to give its contents the most possible quality, seen in Mbps when viewing the film. As to the picture/sound quality, the picture is of nice high-definition quality on my 55" HD TV, sharper than the DVD and identical to Amazon Instant Video's HD version. Very nice and sharp; not amazing, but a solid HD job. However, the darned chapters are-- get ready-- every 10 minutes exactly! Just like you might record at home. NOT like the DVD, on which the chapters start where they should, at the beginning of scenes. Horrible! And, on the menu, there are no names for the scenes, just chapter 1, chapter 2, etc. Yikes! Then, there are NO extras at all except for English subtitles if you wish to see them. There is NO documentary about the making of the film, no director commentary, and no deleted scenes (the latter two items are on the DVD). Heck, there are not even any trailers! Overall, this blu-ray seems lke the FIRST effort ever by the place that mastered and manufactured it. Embarrassing. Thankfully, the picture is good HD and the sound is good. Otherwise, this is an El Cheapo job. Don't thumb me down for honesty and ACCURACY, please. I'm trying to help future purchasers with a balanced, honest review.

Great Movie, but you're actually told the "Actors" are "Older" than they appear, in the Movie! So go out there and watch the movie and enjoy a trip back to your youth. The Final Scene is GREAT!

*SPOILER* After watching the trailer, I was really looking forward to watch the film. I literally sat down with popcorn and soda. Honestly, whoever wrote the script did not provide enough background for Leigh's breaking point to return home. If it's simply because of her article and Raj, then I find her really weak and spoiled. Perhaps, they should have made Leigh go through something more tragic that would throw her entire life into an existential crisis. Then she decides that she needs to revert back to her childish ways in order to be happy. That would have made the audience sympathize with her more. She returns home to a mother who only cares about herself and what she wants, and her father who is the only one who cares about her. There is so many things wrong with that. You would think the mother would miss her own daughter. The mother is a very disturbing character. I also find Mel and her husband's relationship to be very fake. They do not seem to love each other at all because their relationship is based on the husband's control and Mel being submissive. Wasn't Jason kissing another girl in the beginning? I'm assuming he has a girlfriend, so why the sudden interest in Leigh? I would understand why Leigh is willing to throw herself at him because she is desperate for love from someone after dealing with a previous bad lover and a cold mother, but Jason's interest is still a mystery. I really did not see the sex montage coming.It would have been gross if the sexes were swapped, but it's still weird. Then there is a teen suicide. Why did he do it? It seemed so sudden without any reason at all. The only things that I did like in this movie were the symbols. The constant rain and gloomy weather to symbolize sadness and confusion. Leigh wears a red bathing suit to symbolize danger when she pursues a relationship with Jason. Then there is the irony of how her job is to save others, but she fails to save herself from such an illicit relationship. The ending with her driving is awkward, but there is light to show that finally understands her life and is no longer in a state of confusion. Overall, I found the movie to be quite dry. It's definitely not one of those where after you watch it, you feel impacted by the emotions. I merely said one word after the end, "meh".