To give credit where it's due, "The Lifeguard" is a nicely shot, leisurely paced indie movie about growing older, growing up, and dealing with the changing pressures of "finding yourself" in a world that may often seem hollow and unsympathetic. The performances are mostly solid, with particularly decent efforts from Kristen Bell as 29-year-old disillusioned reporter Leigh, who moves from New York back to her childhood home in Connecticut, where she bunks with her parents, picks up her high school job as a lifeguard at the local pool, and generally attempts to revisit her adolescence, and Alex Schaffer as Matt, one of the trio of equally disillusioned teens Leigh and her friends fall in with over the course of the summer. I caught this movie on Netflix, so wasn't aware it had been billed as a comedy on release; a weird choice that may have hampered the film, as it contains almost zero comedic elements. It's more in the vein of "American Honey" or other movies that attempt to portray realistically flawed characters making dubious choices in an effort to reaffirm their own identities... and, at least for me, that's where "The Lifeguard" falls flat. My problems with this movie are chiefly to do with its horrendous double standards, its failure to engage with any of the issues it raises, and its stubborn refusal to have any of the characters show even an ounce of true self-awareness or growth. Each of the adult characters - Leigh, her high school friends Mel (Mamie Gummer) and Todd (Martin Starr), and Mel's husband John (Joshua Harto) - are painfully self-absorbed and seem to only parse the world in terms of how it affects them, perhaps best typified in the scene where Mel wails and frets over needing to be "free" and also nurses her anxiety about whether or not she could be a mother (note: not a good mother, just a mother). These might well be real and vivid concerns for a married 30-something with her own home, car, and career, but the script entirely deprives Mel of any subtlety whatsoever and she, like Leigh, merely comes over as a spoiled and self-obsessed brat; the feminine equivalent of a so-called manchild, who would be more at home poring over quotes about self-actualization on Instagram than living as a functional adult. Of course, there are many movies that focus on the emotional growth of a manchild, and many movies that attempt to make unlikeable characters interesting. "The Lifeguard" does neither, and it strays into somewhat disturbing territory with the depiction of Leigh's affair with 16-year-old Little Jason (David Lambert). For some reason, Leigh's sexual relationship with a minor almost exactly half her age is portrayed as equal, consenting, and harmless. The sex scenes are shot with focus on Leigh's enjoyment and also her romanticization of the relationship, even though at several points the movie goes out of its way to show us how young and vulnerable Jason is, particularly during the third act, with his raw emotional reaction to the loss of his friend Matt. As with every single event that occurs in this movie, Jason's breakdown serves only to further something Leigh perceives about herself, and she leaves him being comforted by his father while she does the only bit of vague adulting we ever see her do. The final scene she shares with him involves her giving him money and literally leaving him crying by the poolside. It's a sickening display of self-absorption that plays out while the audience is presumably supposed to be impressed at how Leigh (dressed for the first time in "grown-up" clothes, complete with high heels, in contrast to the swimsuits, tank tops and shorts Bell wears for most of the movie) has matured. In a movie - and there have been many - depicting an adult man's affair or infatuation with a teenage girl, either as a taboo attraction or a way to recapture his youth, the implicit imbalance of power in such a relationship is always apparent. Think of the scene in "American Beauty" where Lester, on the edge of an encounter with his teenage daughter's friend, backs away and ends up giving her fatherly advice: in that moment, the disturbing reality of the fantasy is brought home to him, and he recoils. Put bluntly, when men in movies pursue teenagers, they are portrayed - and seen by audiences - as predatory, sleazy dirtbags, or pathetic has-beens. By contrast, "The Lifeguard" portrays Leigh as a whimsical girl having a hot summer fling, and at no point assesses or questions her behaviour except in the most minimal way, placing the emphasis on Mel's concern that she should report the affair, or that she may lose her job at the school if it becomes public knowledge. To cap it off, the movie completely sidesteps any form of repercussion. Leigh leaves Connecticut to pick up her old life, and the relationship with Jason is swept under the rug, with he and his father both refusing to name names. During a scene between Mel and Jason's father at the school, he outright states that "getting laid" is sure to have no effect on his sixteen-year-old son, and he'll be fine. Perhaps this is the movie's way of questioning the endemic minimization of sexual abuse on boys when perpetrated by adult women; perhaps it's just another way for the main character to continue prancing through her charmed life without a single thing to worry about except the fact that she isn't a teenager any more. It's hard for me to list everything I hated about this movie and its characters. I disliked everything about Leigh from her selfishness to her poor cat ownership, and I hated the fact that the movie seems to condone her self-absorption, never forcing her out of her own introspection to deal with a wider world. The closest it came to this was in the relationship with her mother, where Leigh is apparently surprised that her parents have their own personalities, preferences, and lives. How she made it to nearly thirty while being so oblivious to the fact other humans are people too is mind-bending. There might be a thoughtful, relatable movie buried somewhere in "The Lifeguard" and, perhaps if the supporting characters had been fleshed out more, or Leigh had been given more of a challenging character arc, it would have been brought to the surface. Unfortunately, for me, this is one piece of self-indulgent rubbish that sinks like a stone.

Unfortunately movies about characters adrift and trying to find themselves don't make for good cinema. Kristen Bell's misguided millennial has returned home to pick up her glory days in high school by getting her old lifeguard gig back. Thewestchestarian imagines being a lifeguard at the same small municipal pool everyday must eventually get pretty old and in real life you wouldn't want to slog back through it again for love nor money. Once installed in the tall chair the movie is unclear about what to do with Kristen's character so it introduces others with problems that are at least more comparatively interesting. Her best friend is now an assistant principal whom her old school and her aging husband are trying to tress up with the bounds of responsibility. Her rebellion against real responsibility makes Bell's characters seems fairly inconsequential and thus not really movie-worthy. The very late 20 somethings hanging around - and in some cases doing much more - with the current crop of local teenagers does come across as sort of pervy and a little pathetic. It seems like there are less pedophillc ways to rebel against adulthood. In short, the great American millennial story has yet to be written and this certainly isn't it.

In my top 5 worst films ever. Liz Garcia who both wrote and directed this junk should reconsider her career options. Perhaps selling plastic ware on the party plan would be better. How did she ever delude investors into funding this? You will note most of the top reviews come from Kristen Bell fans. I am not. I find her skills mediocre at best. But even she struggles with this terrible script,. Not to mention she's getting a little long in the tooth to keep playing the Baywatch drone.Garcia promoted this as a "dark comedy." Well no one is laughing. Her actors never even crack a smile. This was supposed to be the story of a bright young woman about to turn thirty facing her first serious life crisis. What it really is, is the story of multiple acts of child sexual abuse. Bell's character is supposed to be 29 (she was 31). David Lambert's Jason is supposed to be a 16 year old boy (he was 19 at the time). They have shaved his body to make him appear as young and adolescent as possible.No one--I mean no one--in this story comes to his rescue. Not the perpetrator Leigh, not his Dad, not his school's assistant principal, not any of their friends; no one. He thinks he's in love. In reality, he is being totally and completely used and abused in every way and no one at all ever is called to account or pay for the abuse. Everybody gets a "Get Out Of Jail Free" card one way or the other no matter how flimsy the excuse.I assume that's because we have a double standard for boys and especially teen characters. Had Ms. Garcia written a screen play in which there is a graphic scene (or two) involving a 16 year old school girl being pursued and used sexually with drugs by a 30 year old man would Sundance have even screened it? This is one of the most tasteless films for it's concept(not nudity) I have ever seen.Fortunately for the actors no ones career got hurt. This dog had no legs. Garcia and Bell tried to sell it as "graphic" to line up distribution but that didn't fly either so it went almost immediately to DVD. Watch it if you must. If you are a Bell fan, you'll like it. Mostly she only has to show up in a red bathing suit and she can get at least 8 stars. I finally just threw my copy away.

Leigh London, a 29-year-old journalist living in New York, finding that she has become disillusioned with her job and her life in the city, decides to quit and return to the small town where she grew up. (The exact location of her hometown is not made clear, but a reference to "Hartford" suggests it may be in Connecticut). Her father is delighted to see her; her narrow, fault-finding mother much less so. She renews her acquaintance with some old friends and returns to her old job as a lifeguard at the local swimming pool.While working in this job she meets, and becomes friends with, a teenage boy named Little Jason. Before long Leigh and Little Jason are more than just good friends; they have become lovers and started a passionate affair. The film then follows all the complications which ensue from this illicit relationship, complications which involve not just Leigh and Jason but several other people as well. Most of those on this board who have criticised this film have done so on the alleged basis that it "glorifies paedophilia". I would disagree with that criticism for two reasons. The first is that those making it fail to realise that "paedophilia" means "sexual attraction towards pre- pubescent children", and there is no way Little Jason could be regarded as pre-pubescent; he is supposed to be around 17, but David Lambert was actually 21 at the time. (His nickname "Little" does not imply that he is a young child or even that he is particularly diminutive- indeed, he is a tall, gangly youth- but he is so called in order to distinguish him from his father, Big Jason). The second is that this film is far too dreary to glorify anything. "The Lifeguard", in fact, is the sort of pseudo-intellectual indie movie which is so dreary that it makes you realise that there is sometimes something to be said for the most mindless Hollywood mega-blockbuster. All the characters seem to exist in a permanent state of depression, although the causes of their low spirits are not always made clear. We never really learn just why Leigh is so disillusioned with life in the Big Apple, although as she has own a prestigious prize for journalism lack of success or recognition in her chosen profession cannot be the answer. One character is, quite literally, driven to suicide by the failure of a project to relocate to Vermont. Just why small-town life in Connecticut is apt to bring on a state of suicidal depression which can only be cured by immediate relocation to the other side of the State line is something I leave to those more familiar with New England than I am. Although I suspect that even they will be baffled. None of the actors stand out apart from the actress playing Leigh's friend Mel who stands out because of her resemblance to a young Meryl Streep. (There is a long subplot involving Mel's failure to conceive a child, much to her husband's frustration). Upon looking at the cast list I noted that she was played by Meryl's daughter Mamie Gummer. All I can say is that Ms Gummer has some way to go before she can match the standards of her famous parent. The poster for this film, showing its star Kristen Bell looking very fetching in a red swimsuit, might lead the unwary to think it has something to do with "Baywatch". It hasn't, apart from the fact that its main character is a female lifeguard. I suppose you could describe it as "Baywatch" meets Samuel Beckett, existential angst in a red swimsuit. It is an indie movie for those who hate indie movies, but only if they need to be reminded just why they hated them in the first place. 3/10