SXSW Review: ‘Summer of 69’ is a Very Funny Pairing of Two Great Actresses and a Winning First-Time Director

Teenagers talk a big game, but there’s a lot they don’t know, especially about sex. Obsessing over a crush may be everything for a time, even if they’re never going to see or think about each other again as soon as they graduate. There’s a reason this period of life is such a frequent subject for movies and TV shows, and Summer of 69 is the latest film to feature the agony of being young and feeling like you don’t have what it takes to get with your crush. Its emphasis is on comedy rather than an ironclad, completely believable story, and it’s a smart choice since this is one very funny film starring two extremely talented actresses perfectly paired together for this adventure.

Abby (Sam Morelos) has been into Max (Matt Cornett) since they were little, and after a series of awkward exchanges over gummy worm orders, everything changes when she finds out that he’s newly single. Clued in by the gossip-informed mascot, she knows what she has to do to win him over: learn how to 69. Desperate to have all the knowledge before the fast-approaching graduation, she hires Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman), a stripper who just happens to need $20,000 to help her business-challenged boss (Paula Pell) retain ownership of the strip club she’s about to lose, to teach her everything she needs to do.

This film marks actress Jillian Bell’s first time directing, and she brings a truly enjoyable touch to the craft. It’s no surprise that this film sometimes feels like an R-rated version of Saturday Night Live due to the many people involved with histories on the variety show, including former writer Bell and cast members Fineman, Pell, and Alex Moffat. The humor is certainly racier and there is a little partial nudity to be seen, but the comedy comes much more from the conversations these characters have – and everything that comes out of Fineman’s mouth, especially when directed at Morelos since Santa Monica is far from impressed with where Abby is starting on her sexual journey.

This film is a blast thanks to its two leads and the somewhat divergent paths their characters take. Abby has supportive parents and spends most of her time earning money from her gamer followers, but she doesn’t seem to have any friends in real life. Santa Monica is very close with her fellow strippers but definitely the leader of the pack, never one to not make herself heard. They each have their own motivations and senses of urgency tied in to the same deadline, and while their personalities initially clash, they soon come to see – as audiences will suspect from their first meeting – that they’re exactly what the other needs.

Fineman is a proven talent from Saturday Night Live, and it’s nice to see her push the boundaries to something more explicit, reminiscent of Melissa Rauch’s foul-mouthed turn in The Bronze. Morelos, whose few past credits include That ’90s Show, is a great find, bringing an awkward sincerity to this character who’s much more entrepreneurial and skilled than many others at her age but has remarkably little social acumen. While Cornett is also charming and Pell never misses an opportunity to be raucously funny as Betty Spaghetti, who issues an unfiltered retelling of how she got that name, this film is at its best when its two leads share the screen.

While this film is decidedly unserious, it’s refreshing to see something that zooms out from its catalytic target romance and instead remains much more invested in the road to get there and the unexpected developments it brings for its two protagonists. Bell, whose introduction to the SXSW premiere was almost as funny as the film itself, knows how to make an audience laugh, and this film should keep anyone watching – likely at home when this film hits Hulu – quite entertained. It’s not a definitive teen sex comedy but it’s one that works well enough, totally successful in its mission to find humor in the misery of growing up.

Movie Rating: 7/10