Summertime movie review & film summary (2021)

Magic evolves from coincidences we’re compelled to roll with simply because they’re so joyous. For example, Anewbyss and Rah go from being unable to sell one copy of their mix CD to suddenly becoming major stars through a chance meeting with the rapping therapist. They hit it big and sell out a hall with a song about how much they love their mothers! And the street vendor Raul (Raul Herrera) who squirted customers with a water pistol during the day shows up to drive those same folks in the rap duo’s limo at night. Even a simple argument between Paolina (Paolina Acuña-González) and her mother about red lipstick becomes lyrics backed by a dazzling street ballet featuring women in searing, bright red dresses that pop against the drabness of the concrete.

Deeper topics and social commentary are touched upon in numerous poems. In one scene, Tyris yearns for the family that rejected him. Later, his pal Marquesha (Marquesha Babers) brings down the house with a stunning confession/kiss-off to a crush who wronged her because she was not his type. In that scene, the film’s best, Marquesha finally takes the advice of that therapy book and exorcises her demons through the spoken word. And Gordon (Gordon Ip) sets the climax of the film in motion with a diatribe about working for minimum wage and maximum aggravation at a hellhole of a hamburger joint (where, coincidentally, Tyris finally gets his damn burger).

Like many a summer night, “Summertime” ends with its characters watching fireworks from a great vantage point, looking out on the city they claim as their own regardless of their circumstances. We feel as if we know them, based on their words and whatever bit of our younger selves we may have impressed on them. As the pyrotechnics crackle, “Summertime” leaves us with a poem about clouds from Raul. And as he recites it, Estrada’s camera takes us through the city one more time. Not to the big places; he takes us around the way, to the places his characters and their dreams inhabit. It brings the film full circle. With this final piece, part lament, part lullaby, everything clicked for me. The movie had gifted me with its thesis statement, and I was moved by the catharsis it contained. This is one of the year’s best movies.

Now playing in theaters.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7s7vGnqmempWnwW%2BvzqZmq52mnrK4v46srKallafBqrnEZqSorpmaerOx1aKcsGViZX9y