Summer With The Guys | Film Threat
As a kid, The Little Rascals was my go-to shorts on television. In almost every episode, the rascals needed to accomplish something. Be it putting on a show, getting the girl, or earning some case, they used their child-like resources to make it happen. However, in Terrence Green’s comedic feature, Summer With The Guys, the rascals are replaced by four grown-a*s college men, and their adult-like resources involve stripping.
Summer With The Guys involves four college football roommates, DC (Terrence Green), Jay, Brannon Watson, Dan (James Hal Hardy), and Bmore (Brashaad Mayweather), who were just delivered some bad news. Thanks to radical changes among the college administrators, all four roomies have lost their scholarships and must come up with the remaining tuition over the summer, or they’re off the football team. Worse, they don’t have enough money to cover rent.
Thankfully, the school arranged for the four with good jobs over the summer, but these guys are such unreliable baffoons they’re unhireable. However, as luck would have it, a new strip club for ladies has just opened, and the owner, Ms. Cash (Lina Outler), needs new talent. Fortunately, aside from pursuing a football career, DC is an accomplished dancer and teaches the guys a few tantalizing moves for the crowd.
“…a new strip club for ladies has just opened, and the owner, Ms. Cash, needs new talent.”
Summer With The Guys falls squarely in that independent comedy category and tries to find that balance between drama and comedy. Thankfully, writers Terrence Green and Marquese ‘Kese’ Deese never brings the comedy into the goofy, wink-at-the-camera, I’m-telling-a-joke-here territory. Instead, the comedy comes from the semi-dangerous situations the boys find themselves in and their irrepressible way of coming out on top.
Story-wise, I like that the boys constantly chase the “pot of gold.” After a successful debut, Ms. Cash demands her cut of the boys’ earnings. She then gives them party drugs to “loosen up,” and then she convinces DC to deal said drugs on the side.
As much as the story is about our heroes trying to earn enough summer cash to pay their tuition, Summer With The Guys is about four best friends helping each other out in all the right and wrong ways. Ultimately, they realize that earning “easy” money is never that easy. The main cast gives good performances, as most of the comedy comes out of their chemistry in this comedy/drama.
The only real criticism of the film comes with the inherent weaknesses of low-low budget indie filmmaking. The overall look and feel of the film is low-budget indie. The sound is sometimes inconsistent, the camera work is a bit basic, and the editing is a bit frenetic, particularly during the film’s more jokey moments. The not-so-quick solution to these problems comes with time and experience, and I’m pretty sure filmmaker Terrance Green will keep making movies and improve step-by-step over time.
While Hollywood has no idea how to make a comedy anymore, films like Summer With The Guys are coming out of the woodwork to take over the void. It’s a fun film for a weekend of just chilling.
For more information, visit the Summer With The Guys linktr.ee page.
