Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

I don't know what I'm more angry at - frittering away an hour of my life watching a chunk of this stinker or that it was released by Paramount Pictures. What were they thinking? Yeah... yeah. We're the oldest studio in Hollywood. Know what? Let's chuck all that and put out a retarded beach movie.When you see Edd "Kookie" Byrnes on any credit crawl, you know you're deep in the Bay of Crap. He's the leader of a surf band - right! - and they must raise a grand to keep their instruments out of hock. That's it. That's the movie. And there's skydiving, race-car driving, surfing and bikini waxing. ...All at the pace of glacier retreat at the end of the last Ice Age. There are four very lovely young gals who are uptight, neurotic Sybils until some bongo thumping gets them to unwind and uncork the cocoa butter. I hung around until I saw them in some rather tame bikinis and then hung it up.This should be a drinking game. Everyone can knock one back every time someone in the cast says "daddio". Then, relax wait for those DTs to kick in. Oh... and vomit your guts out.

Best part of movie outside the rock cameos is the cars. Two featured: Bill Cushenberry's Silhouette which later became an AMT model and one of the original HotWheels miniatures. Typical early Sixties custom with open hood, bubble top and tuck and roll interior.The movie also featured a car show that included Bob Urquhart's 1927 Model T Roadster which appeared on the cover of the October 1962 Hot Rod magazine and numerous other magazines through 1964. Car was powered by a 1954 DeSoto hemi and also featured a Cadillac transmission and Corvette rearend. Car is iconic of the "custom rod" era and is currently owned by Jim Gilliam of Des Moines and is being restored to original condition. Because of Edd Byrnes, anyone in this movie rates a "3" on the Kevin Bacon scale.

I only tuned into this film for a few minutes, but it was worth it...to see the Supremes (from Detroit's Motown label) singing surfing songs. Anyone who knows the geography of Detroit and the color of the Supremes knows why this is so fascinating.Of particular splendor is Diana Ross' hairdo -- a beehive with what I can only guess is supposed to be a "wave" on one side.

You remember that routine that they used to do on NBC'S Saturday Night, the "Sixties Movie" thing? This is it. The lighting, the music (though persuasive... the Righteous Brothers kick butt), the chicks, the cars, the comic relief. It has "1965" scrawled all over it.