Review of Summer Rain

Writer/Director Jonathan Glendening's rough n' tumble indie feature was released 20 years ago, and his zesty beachside 20-something comedy has happily retained much of its boorish, roguishly comedic charm! The colourful performances from the raw young cast are quite splendid, their unfamiliarity adding an frisson of verisimilitude to the all too familiar narrative. 'Summer Rain is a playful, fun-dappled, seaside serenade to disastrous break-ups, blissful boozy nights out, saucy nights in, and far from refined bachelor cuisine! Flame-haired Michelle inopportunely chooses her 21st birthday to break up with her long-term artistically-inclined boyfriend Gary (Paul Vaughan Evans) which fatefully acts as the emotional catalyst for his increasingly desperate attempts to win back Michelle's waning affections. While far from subtle, Summer Rain is arguably at its boisterous best during the amusingly noisome exchanges of its youthful, party-hearty protagonists, with some especially toothsome badinage between angsty Michelle and her no less emotionally beleaguered flatmates Vicky (Lara Clancy) and Becky (Cath Sampson). Enticingly framed against the irresistibly solar-hazed decadence of Brighton in all its gaudy summer-singed glory, Jonathan Glendening's 'Summer Rain' remains a charmingly relatable tale for twentysomethings of all ages!'