Indian Summer (1993)

Seven friends reunite for a week-long reunion at a summer camp in Ontario they used to attend as children which is now threatened with being closed down.

Director:

Mike Binder

Writer:

Mike Binder

Stars:

Alan Arkin, Matt Craven, Diane Lane

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Alan Arkin	...	Unca Lou Handler
Matt Craven	...	Jamie Ross
Diane Lane	...	Beth Warden / Clair Everett (flashback)
Bill Paxton	...	Jack Belston
Elizabeth Perkins	...	Jennifer Morton
Kevin Pollak	...	Brad Berman
Sam Raimi	...	Stick Coder
Vincent Spano	...	Matthew Berman
Julie Warner	...	Kelly Berman
Kimberly Williams-Paisley	...	Gwen Daugherty (as Kimberly Williams)
Richard Chevolleau	...	Sam Grover
Robert K. Feldmann	...	Man in Canoe
Anne Holloway	...	Tamakwa Cook
Cliff Woolner	...	Ranger Thaddeus Clay (flashback)
Emily Creed	...	Young Jennifer

Storyline

A group of childhood friends, now in their thirties, reunite at Camp Tamakwa. Only a few of the original campers show up, but they still have a good time reminiscing. The people share experiences and grow while at the camp. They are dismayed to discover that the camp's owner, Unca Lou, is going to close the camp down.

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Plot Keywords:

Reunion | Summer Camp | Nostalgia | Ontario Canada | Vacation | 

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Taglines:

A Comedy About Eight Friends Who Return To The Best Summer Of Their Lives!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some drug content, sensuality and language

Details

Country:

Canada USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 April 1993 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cuando llega el otoño

Filming Locations:

Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Gross:

$14,904,910 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Outlaw Productions (I), Touchstone Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Ashley Williams, who plays Ida Heinken in the flashback scenes, is the younger sister of Kimberly Williams-Paisley, who plays Gwen.

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Goofs

During the flashback to the long-ago Tamakwa-thon, as the runners pass through a crowd, the shadows of the cameraman and sound man are visible on the backs of the assembled onlookers.

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Quotes

Unca Lou Handler: [Uncle Lou spreads forest boughs to reveal a moose grazing in the forest] There's nothing like a good moose.

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Crazy Credits

The counselor's assistant Stick (played by Sam Raimi) stares into the camera for the entirety of the credits.

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Connections

References The Deer Hunter (1978)
While the group is (literally) treading water, Matthew says "I feel like I'm in a scene from The Deer Hunter," and urges everyone to look up at Stick, who's standing on the pier.

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Soundtracks

"Ready For Love"
Written by Mick Ralphs (as Mike Ralphs)
Performed by Bad Company
Courtesy of Swan Song, Inc.

User Reviews

Not completely Binder...

I still can't figure out why someone would think the premise of this movie is good enough to make a ninety-minute…movie. Considering it came from writer/director Mike Binder, the man behind "The Upside of Anger" and that this was his first film, I was drawn to it even when it was Matsan (and Tomilon) who rented it.

Take a look at the title, "Indian Summer". Doesn't it sound like one of those movies they show on Fox Kids on a Sunday afternoon? And I'm not talking about the animated ones; I mean live action. Well, in fact, "Indian Summer" looks like one of those films and, even when it's bad, it finds a way to be not as bad.

The issue is that a movie with a title like "Indian Summer", one would assume, should involve little children spending a summer pretending they are members of an Indian tribe or whatever. Guess what? Binder's film is exactly about that, except for one little detail: it involves adults. Adults that, as children, spent their summers pretending there were members of an Indian tribe and did all sorts of activities and played all sorts of games related to that.

The reason why these adults get together for this 'Indian summer' has to do with the fact that Uncle Lou (Alan Arkin) is closing the camp that made them all happy as kids and wants them to join him for a last reunion. They're not a lot and they are written as stereotypes: the bad boy, the innocent guy, the daring girl, the joker; even the assistant of Uncle Lou, who's not in the main group but fulfills the role of the stupid man that can't complete any task and falls into the water in scenes that are everything but funny. As it has to be in a film of this type, some of them share a past: a forbidden love that could never be, an old rivalry…Some come with a burden from their present.

Binder puts these adults together and makes this summer function as a 'therapy'. This is where I must assume that "Indian Summer" is highly autobiographical. How else could an original writer like Binder have fallen into the level of predictability and lack of emotion and, more importantly, interesting dialog this movie presents? How else could he have come up with the words and definitions Uncle Lou uses to refer to punishments and the different games and tribe names for that matter?

If you've seen Binder's work, you would question this and try to defend him by saying that you know he could have perfectly invented all this things in an original context; but there's another fact that backs my assumption. During the whole film, the characters appear to be immerse in a world of their own; leaving the viewer completely out of their interaction.

Matsan didn't feel it that way, but I can assure some things: you won't laugh at the jokes they make when they're together, neither you'll laugh with the repetition of some of them; you won't connect with any character because they won't let you. Binder feels so related with the experiences the characters are living, that he completely forgets about including the viewer in them. If you laugh, you'll laugh with images and actions but not with words; if you connect, you'll connect because there's a little of nostalgia inside all of us.

That nostalgic feeling that Binder wants to transmit is the only message that gets through (and gets through the performance of Alan Arkin) and turns "Indian Summer" into something better than a terrible movie. Even if I didn't want to admit it; there's something about the first scene and the very last that you can't deny. That moose is saying something, because this time images and contemplation worked better for Binder than words. It still looks like one of those Fox Kids movies, though.