The Perfect Summer

(Disclosure:  I received this movie in order to facilitate my review.  All opinions shared are my own.)


I got to watch a great movie over the summer.  A movie, that after I watched it with my husband, I wanted my 9 year old to watch.  The storyline is safe for young children and pre-teens could enjoy it.  My son liked that he got to watch a big kid movie.  This movie is about a mom and a son (Jake) who move across the country to live with her dad.  Jake is a teenager who is struggling to fit in with the local kids.  He asks his grandfather for some surfing lessons and encounters a group of guys who cause trouble.  Jake has a decision to make.  He could give-up or keep going.  This was a good movie for my son, who keeps quitting and is hard on himself.  This movie has no cuss words, has a fight seen but isn't too bad.  Great family movie!



About the movie:  In The Perfect Summer, fatherless teenage Jake is happy living in Chicago, until his mother decides to uproot them to a small surfing town where her estranged father, Jake's grandfather, lives.  The transition isn't easy for anyone and it seems everywhere he goes, Jake manages to make enemies, including the town bully, Tyler, who doesn't like the new interloper or his interest in young surfing prodigy, Kayla.  Stuck in the beach town with no friends and no knowledge of surfing, Jake has nowhere to turn until Cody (Jason Castro), the local surf shop owner, reveals that Jake's grandfather is a surf legend.  Tired of feeling like an outcast, Jake asks Lou to teach him about surfing.  Jake learns to face his fears, push through inhibitions and realizes that winning the respect of his new peers- and Kayla's heart- might mean facing the biggest challenge of his life.