Much like Olivia Wilde’s “Booksmart” and Maggie Carey’s “The To-Do List,” Jillian Bell’s directorial debut, “Summer of 69,” is the story of a teenage girl who wants to become more worldly. Nearing the end of her high school career, Abby (Sam Morelos) doesn’t have a friend in the world. She’s invisible at her catholic school and spends her after-school hours streaming video games for money on the internet. Not even her followers know her–she wears Halloween masks while streaming, never revealing her face. Now, as graduation looms ahead, Abby is finally ready to put herself out there.
She sets her sights on Max (Matt Cornett), her classmate and longtime crush. For as long as they have been in school together, Max has been dating Mercedes, one of the most popular girls. But now they’ve finally broken up, and Abby has a small window to make her move before school is over for good. Once she hears from the school mascot that Max loves 69ing, Abby decides to win him over with her sexual prowess. But of course, she doesn’t actually have any. Looking for guidance, she walks into the local strip club, Diamond Dolls, just in time to see Santa Monica (Chloe Fineman) take the stage. Soon, she comes up with a plan: pay Santa Monica to teach her all about sex and confidence. With her parents gone for the week, Abby takes all the money she had saved up for a car and bets it all on love.
Meanwhile, Santa Monica and her coworkers Angel (Liza Koshy) and Destiny (Nicole Byer) may be out of a job soon. Betty (Paula Pell), the owner of Diamond Dolls, needs $20,000 or she’ll lose the club to the smarmy Rick Richards (Charlie Day), who has the makings of an all-time bad boss. Santa Monica resolves to get the money from Abby so she can buy the club herself. Once they make a deal, the lessons begin in earnest. Santa Monica teaches her young protege how to walk and talk like a confident, sexy woman. But despite her expertise, Santa Monica has mixed feelings about where she is in her life. While Abby is trying to become a better version of herself, Santa Monica secretly feels like a failure. In the past, she went to the same high school as Abby, and her upcoming class reunion is a sobering reminder that she has yet to become a success. Though Abby looks up to her, Santa Monica feels like a big loser.
Morelos and Fineman have genuine comedic chemistry as Abby and Santa Monica, using their differences in age, race, and experience to bring out more in each other. Pell, Koshy, and Byer are all experienced comedic bit players, making Diamond Dolls feel like a warm workplace worth saving. Day is serviceable as the mustache-twirling misogynist villain, only interested in women’s bodies and how much money they can make for him. As Max, Cornett mostly has to look handsome and make the occasional quip, but he makes the most out of his love interest role, especially in the third act. Bell looked to the ’80s for most of the cultural references in “Summer of 69,” with Abby and Max mirroring Samantha Baker (Molly Ringwald) and Jake Ryan (Michael Schoeffling) in “Sixteen Candles.” Additionally, Santa Monica introduces Abby to “Risky Business,” a film that makes “Summer of 69” seem much tamer in comparison. Teen movies have gotten to the same place horror was in the 90s and early 2000s–it feels like everything has been done, so callbacks have become a staple of the genre.
After being a skilled and deeply underrated comedic actress in studio comedies throughout her career, Bell’s first foray into feature directing shows promise. It’s a commendable directorial debut, even when the film leans too hard on nostalgia and cliches. Modern high school comedies keep trying to bridge the gender gap, telling more stories about young women trying to have their own raunchy adventures. But it will be refreshing when filmmakers stop going back to the well and begin to make newer observations about young women, making these stories feel more unique. In the meantime, “Summer of 69” is a fun, chill time.
