The only consistently outstanding thing about Eternal Summer is the photography. It's gorgeous. There are times when the way the camera moves through a scene is so fascinating, so evocative and sensual, that I neither know nor care what the actors are doing - which is a good thing, because they're rarely doing anything worth watching.The girl and the boy who plays Shane are pretty good sometimes, and the boy who plays Jonathan is great in the very first scene, when he looks into the camera and smiles before leading us out the door and into the past - his only smile in the whole movie.The mostly piano score stays comfortably in the background except in crucial scenes, when it swells intrusively and annoyingly in its attempt to force us to be caught up in the drama we see, and succeeds only in detracting from it.The big sex scene is sweet enough, but it's about as believable as if Bruce Willis and Harrison Ford did one. Some straight actors can pull it off - better than many gay actors - but not these two.I like the slightly ambiguous ending, but the fact that the whole movie is a flashback means the first scene helps a lot in tying the end together. The story is unusual enough that it could have been interesting, and it actually is, sometimes, but not often enough to carry the movie.There's nothing new about a gay boy in love with his straight best friend, or about a girl who's in love with the gay but settles for the straight. What IS new is the marvelous extent to which this straight guy is willing to become whatever his friend needs him to be - without at all compromising his strong sense of himself - and with no resentment at all, no holding his nose while he does something that disgusts him, no hint of martyrdom - only love.That alone makes this movie - despite its many weaknesses and faults - very special. If there actually were even one such straight man on the face of the earth, this world would be a better place.(The DVD cover is misleading. There is no such scene in the movie, with the three of them lying entwined together in the sand, or anywhere else - not even in the deleted scenes.)

Eternal summer is a sweet and bitter love triangle between guys and one girl. Johnathan, the shy and reserved, fell for his best friend, Shane, the outgoing and sporty. Carrie who initially fell for Johnathan then became in love with Shane. Not sure if Carrie was really in love with Shane or just used Shane to get close to Johnathan. It is very hard to believe that Shane had spent one intimate night with Johnathan and still see him as his best friend. I think Shane also has some feelings for Johnathan more than friendship. It seems to me that these two developed feelings for each other over the long period of their friendship. Shane is prob. bisexual but he probably doesn't realize it. The film has a lot of implications that Shane seems confused, lost, and even edgy without Johnathan around more so than without Carrie. There is no explicit ending for these 3 at the end. I can understand how Johnathan felt when he found out his "best friend" had a girlfriend, the hurt and rejection he felt yet he couldn't tell the others. I can understand how Shane felt when he could only watch Shane fall asleep and control his reactions all because this is not acceptable by the society and not knowing how Shane felt about him. At the end, Shane said that he is really lonely and sees Johnathan as his truly best friend. I really have doubts about what he said. I really believe that Shane sees Johnathan more than a best friend but he is prob. in denial and confused, too.. Only if Johnathan can ask Shane if Shane loves him, too... The music is great, very touching. Both Johnathan and Shane gave strong performances. Carrie is good, too but didn't shine as the other two. I wish the movie has a really ending..

Eternal Summer is essentially about the innately gregarious nature of human existence, that desire of each and every human being to have companionship. Although this topic is certainly not new to cinema, it is portrayed in an original, artistic, and poignant manner in this film directed by Leste Chen. In this simple yet touching story, three teenagers, Jonathan, Shane, and Carrie, are thrown into a tumultuous love triangle out of which they each learn that no one should ever have to be lonely. The first character, Jonathan, is a hardworking and studious student. One day while in grade school, he is asked by the teacher to befriend the rebellious Shane in hopes that Jonathan's obedient nature will rub off on Shane. This unlikely friendship goes well into their teen years, as Jonathan remains the diligent and introverted individual while Shane is still the outspoken and often-times boorish individual, now redirecting that hyperactive energy to sports. During these years, Jonathan has developed a secret homosexual crush on his best friend Shane. Jonathan himself does not realize this until a new girl at school, Carrie, starts to take a liking to him. After confessing to Carrie that he is gay and in love with his best friend, he still remains friends with Carrie, the only outside keeper of his biggest secret. The roles that Shane and Carrie play in Jonathan's life have now changed: Carrie is now Jonathan's true best friend, while Shane is Jonathan's desired lover. In spite of this, Jonathan keeps this love well-hidden and does not act on it. His overwhelming feelings for Shane do not begin to take the best of him until he realizes that Carrie, his true best friend, is now dating Shane. It is now that he realizes that he cannot ever just be "friends" with Shane.Meanwhile, Shane sees Jonathan throughout the entire story as his best friend, the only friend he had as a rebellious young boy. Shane's greatest fear is suffering from the loneliness that characterized his childhood before having met Jonathan, and he never wants to return to that dark place ever again. When Jonathan tells Shane that he never wanted to be his friend, Shane's emotions are utterly crushed, and in a last-ditch effort to salvage their invaluable friendship, Shane gives Jonathan what Jonathan has probably been fantasizing about his entire life: one night of intimate unification. For the desperate Shane, this is the only physical way he can show his best friend how much he does not want to lose their friendship. Meanwhile, Shane does not want to lose his love either, Carrie. Although the love story between Shane and Carrie was terribly underdeveloped, Shane admits that he cannot function without Carrie, his love, or Jonathan, his best friend. The third character in this love triangle is Carrie. A new transfer student from Hong Kong, Carrie initially has her eyes set on Jonathan, the sweet guy at school with boyish good looks. When she discovers that she cannot have him, she shifts her eyes to Shane. In a way, Shane is Carrie's "replacement-Jonathan." Knowing that she cannot have Jonathan as her lover, she settles for having Jonathan as her best friend and Shane as her lover. Being with Shane, Jonathan's best friend, seems to be the closest Carrie will ever have to being Jonathan's lover. This story of the quest for teenage companionship was very richly-colored and profoundly presented. However, a major defect of this film was the lack of believability of how Jonathan could have truly loved Shane for any reason other than Shane's good looks or his athletic body. Shane's treatment of Jonathan was not particularly likable. For example, Shane causes Jonathan's grades to slip by distracting him when he tries to study. Even when Jonathan directly asks Shane to let him be, Shane disregards his alleged "best friend's" request and continues to disturb him. Furthermore, Shane is rather bossy and overbearing. He orders Jonathan to eat with him numerous times to keep him company, and when Jonathan does not fulfill this "obligation," Shane feels the need to punish his friend by making it difficult for him to study. It is truly hard to understand how Jonathan could have really liked Shane for any reason other than a superficial one. A second major blemish of the film was the seemingly illogical actions of Shane. Shane sees Jonathan as his best friend without whom he cannot live. Yet, he is willing to jeopardize that friendship by actively pursuing Carrie after "thinking" that she and Jonathan recently broke up. Good friends do not normally date each other's ex's, especially so soon after a breakup. Furthermore, he sees Carrie behind Jonathan's back, and surprisingly, it is Carrie, who knows Jonathan less well, who suggests that they come clean to Jonathan about their relationship. Furthermore, when he is losing Jonathan, Shane decides to sleep with him in a final effort to save their friendship. Although I admit that this scene was indeed an enjoyable one, it is outright incongruous for a friend to sleep with another friend to save a friendship. Normally, friends use oral communication rather than intimately physical communication to save a diminishing friendship. Unless he actually had intimate feelings for Jonathan, sleeping with him only strains the friendship further and makes it more difficult for them to just be "friends" again.All three characters desire someone to fill the role of "best friend" and someone else to fill the role of "lover." Through their teen quests to find and keep friendships, whether romantic or not, the film shows us that companionship is a deep-seated part of human existence that everyone needs.

Well I think this film pretty much sums up the notion that love transcends time and gender. A bittersweet tale of childhood yearning for a best friend that has taken a new direction as the two friends grow up to find the meaning of love and life when a girl threatens to upset the status quo.The two lead male actors, Bryan and Joseph, give a sensitive and insightful performance as two best friends whose friendship is more than just ordinary. Kate plays the girl who comes between them and the girl shows grown-up sensibility beyond her age.Heartwarming, poignant and ultimately heart wrenching. Watching it is enough to make any grown man want to cry.