The Lifeguard
Published 2014-02-09
Film info
- Title The Lifeguard
- Director Liz W. Garcia
- Year 2013
- Run time 1hr 38m
- Genres Drama, Comedy, Romance
- Tagline This summer growing up is optional
- Cast Kristen Bell
Leigh is almost 30 and living a seemingly perfect life in New York. But when her career and love life both come crashing down, she flees to her suburban hometown and regresses right back into teenage life - behaviour. She moves into her old room with her parents, hangs around with friends who never left town and reclaims her high school job as a condo-complex lifeguard. But as Leigh enjoys shirking off adult life and responsibilities and enters into an illicit affair, she begins a chain reaction that affects those closest to her.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 4:54 | Ooh, like this song. Will have to pay attention to the soundtrack. |
| 6:29 | It is a bit of an imposition to move home and bring your cat, isn't it? |
| 10:05 | How to put so much emphasis in an answer that goes: "Yea... no." |
| 11:38 | "We're trying to get pregnant." "Like, with a human baby?" |
| 16:13 | Being a lifeguard is one of those weird jobs that is totally boring until you absolutely have to pay attention to save someone's life. |
| 20:42 | He did look like a shrunken Italian gangster! Great description. |
| 29:10 | She's trying to impress upon an unhappy 16 year old how lucky he is. She obviously doesn't remember being 16. |
| 34:09 | Vermont definitely is on the map. That's not what she meant. |
| 38:26 | "You have to be specific, you can't just drift." |
| 42:09 | Nobody understands her tiger angst! |
| 45:35 | I haven't sat in my car in the rain for a long time. |
| 48:54 | He's far too tall for her. |
| 58:48 | They seem to spend a lot of time just hanging out and getting stoned. This is not a world I know much about. |
| 1:02:07 | I don't know, just recently I get so invested in the people on screen. |
| 1:08:07 | There goes the cat again. |
| 1:17:25 | On the one hand, this film would be better without the cat. On the other hand, the cat was the big reveal! |
| 1:24:32 | Totes rewinding to read the postcard. |
Thoughts
We've shied away from indie films in the past, but where they're starting to be a bit more "mainstream" (if that's possible?) then we're starting to pay attention. Hadn't heard of this one until it appeared in the iTunes store, but wanting something not loud or brash of an evening, we turned to The Lifeguard.
I really enjoyed the film. It was good and quite captivating in places, and I thought Bell played the angsty thirty-something with aplomb. It was also pretty depressing, and certainly not something you'd want to watch if you're in need of a feel-good uplifting experience, but it had a good soundtrack and wound its way to a decent conclusion.
Rating: 3 / 5