We found this one on Netflix streaming movies. We found it to be better than the IMDb rating would suggest. It is a mature theme, a 29-yr-old high achieving lady working in Manhattan, about to turn 30, and both work and relationships conspire to throw her into a dark place.
Kristen Bell, who was actually about 32 during filming, is the main character, Leigh. We later find out she was class valedictorian some 12 years earlier, and none of her friends were surprised that she became an award-winning writer. But inside she was lost, and it seemed she just wanted to be a little girl again.
The movie isn't clear about where it is set, but we know it was filmed around the Pittsburgh area, and at least one of the teenagers was wearing a Pittsburgh tee-shirt. So I'll go with that. But it is an attractive suburban type of community, one where you can walk a short distance and be in the woods.
Leigh informs her parents that she will stay with them for a while. Aimless she decides to take a job she had as a teenager, lifeguard at the local pool. She meets some teen boys, about 16 and 17, and she instantly identifies with them.
This confuses her good friend from high school, Mamie Gummer as Mel, who is now assistant principal at the school they graduated from. Plus Mel has her own set of issues, she and her husband seem to be trying to get pregnant, but she isn't sure she would be a good mom. She regresses also to some "teenage" behavior.
The other key character is David Lambert as Little Jason, son of the pool maintenance man. (The character is 16 or 17, but Lambert was 19, almost 20 during filming.) He and Leigh seem to be kindred spirits, she helps him see the possibilities in life, while she sees him as the embodiment of the unfulfilled love life she thought she wanted.
I thought this might be a light romantic comedy but it is far from that. It is about coming of age, but with a twist that the two 30-ish women had never really come of age. There are some pretty raw and explicit scenes depicting sex between a 29-yr-old woman and a 16-yr-old boy, which is shocking to most. I instantly found myself wondering what if it had been a 29-yr-old man with a 16-yr-old girl. It seems movies are more accepting of a teenage boy and an older woman, as in "The Summer of '42" and "Life According to Garp", just to cite a couple of others.
It is hard to "rate" this movie, it isn't "enjoyable" in the usual sense but I found it to be very realistic, and it illustrates how navigating through life sometimes is very unclear. While Leigh was a writer, not a teacher, it seems virtually every week we read about a female teacher getting found out having an intimate relationship with one of her male students. The movie reflects real life.
Kristen Bell, who was actually about 32 during filming, is the main character, Leigh. We later find out she was class valedictorian some 12 years earlier, and none of her friends were surprised that she became an award-winning writer. But inside she was lost, and it seemed she just wanted to be a little girl again.
The movie isn't clear about where it is set, but we know it was filmed around the Pittsburgh area, and at least one of the teenagers was wearing a Pittsburgh tee-shirt. So I'll go with that. But it is an attractive suburban type of community, one where you can walk a short distance and be in the woods.
Leigh informs her parents that she will stay with them for a while. Aimless she decides to take a job she had as a teenager, lifeguard at the local pool. She meets some teen boys, about 16 and 17, and she instantly identifies with them.
This confuses her good friend from high school, Mamie Gummer as Mel, who is now assistant principal at the school they graduated from. Plus Mel has her own set of issues, she and her husband seem to be trying to get pregnant, but she isn't sure she would be a good mom. She regresses also to some "teenage" behavior.
The other key character is David Lambert as Little Jason, son of the pool maintenance man. (The character is 16 or 17, but Lambert was 19, almost 20 during filming.) He and Leigh seem to be kindred spirits, she helps him see the possibilities in life, while she sees him as the embodiment of the unfulfilled love life she thought she wanted.
I thought this might be a light romantic comedy but it is far from that. It is about coming of age, but with a twist that the two 30-ish women had never really come of age. There are some pretty raw and explicit scenes depicting sex between a 29-yr-old woman and a 16-yr-old boy, which is shocking to most. I instantly found myself wondering what if it had been a 29-yr-old man with a 16-yr-old girl. It seems movies are more accepting of a teenage boy and an older woman, as in "The Summer of '42" and "Life According to Garp", just to cite a couple of others.
It is hard to "rate" this movie, it isn't "enjoyable" in the usual sense but I found it to be very realistic, and it illustrates how navigating through life sometimes is very unclear. While Leigh was a writer, not a teacher, it seems virtually every week we read about a female teacher getting found out having an intimate relationship with one of her male students. The movie reflects real life.