The concise critics

Three Summers

Year : 2017 Director : Ben Elton Running Time : 1h 42m Genre : ,
Movie review score
3.5/5

What’s it about?

Each year a Western Australian music festival hosts the same ensemble of die-hard performers and fans. Their stories leap forward every twelve months for three summers.

What we thought

Dan says: Imagine you remade ‘Love Actually’ but instead of being about love and promoting emotionally unhealthy relationships, it was about cultural tolerance and trying to be less of a dick. Ben Elton’s jokes are great. I cackled a lot, but it still feels like he’s directing an episode of Black Adder. Cameras are locked off and dialogue is awkwardly expository as he races for the next gag.

As with all ensemble pieces there’s just not enough time to bring any subtlety to the storytelling. Attempts at pathos feel unearned and he can’t make up his mind whether he wants to respect all cultures or mock them. Good jokes, but it feels like an opportunity to do something wondrous was missed.

Leave a Reply