Indian Summer

Curiously enough, the movie isn't really about what happens. It's about how it feels. This is a story more interested in tone and mood than in big plot points. Read full review

Indian Summer could have been just that kind of angst-fest. But writer-director Mike Binder (Coupe de Ville), a former stand-up comedian, nimbly sidestepped those maudlin pitfalls and, instead, made a frank, funny, down-to-earth comedy. [23 Apr 1993, p.G4]

A lovely though stubbornly shallow romp in nostalgia mixed with contemporary adult angst. [23 Apr 1993, p.C7]

Awash in romantic nostalgia for bygone childhood spent in summer camps, Indian Summer is a sentimental, TV sitcom-like, feel-good film. However, its humor and first-rate acting could ensure a strong opening and modest longterm B.O. life. Read full review

It's an easy-going respite for the audience, thanks to the familiar and instantly likeable cast - also including "Darkman" director Sam Raimi as the camp's slow-witted handyman - who slip into their roles with effortless charm. Writer-director Mike Binder is generous to each character, and the ensemble occasionally clicks with the casual comfort of enduring friendships...But the film is ultimately too sentimental, sluggishly paced and naggingly insubstantial, with cute, jokey dialogue that betrays Binder's background as a stand-up comedian, setting up scenes that exist only to arrive at a punchline. [24 Apr 1993, p.C8]

Indian Summer is about a camp, but it isn't camp. There are a few funny bits, but they are strung together like a poorly constructed lanyard. [23 Apr 1993]

On the plus side, this is probably the only film ever made that credits a “Moose Unit.” There are some great shoots of moose. Read full review

A decently acted, extremely mild romantic comedy that you may think you've seen before, although you haven't. Read full review

Throughout, Binder doesn't seem wholly committed either to character exploration or broad comedy; the film veers back and forth between the two. Despite its weaknesses, however, SUMMER is another promising film for Binder, who manages a fair enough share of privileged moments to make it worthwhile, if not outstanding. He's put together a terrific cast and has directed them well, down to Raimi, who puts his longtime devotion to The Three Stooges to good work by stealing some of the film's best laughs. Read full review

Indian Summer is as sunny as a June day is long and as charming as a late-night marshmallow roast and just about as fluffy. There's not much to the movie, although it seems desperately to want to be taken seriously. [20 Apr 1993]

It's not hard to take, but neither does it go anywhere really interesting, nor do the characters much involve us. The curious thing is that it had every reason to register as something more detailed and specific than the flatly generic thing it is. [23 Apr 1993, p.50]

Slap together Meatballs and The Big Chill and you're left with Indian Summer, a movie that feels like cold leftovers from countless other feel-good ensemble comedies. [23 Apr 1993, p.9]

No one member of the ensemble cast stands out, though one member stands effectively outside it - cult director Sam Raimi, of the "Evil Dead" series, doing a hilariously deadpan Jerry Lewis imitation as Stick, the camp's addled handyman. Just what Raimi is doing in the film is a mystery explained only by the press notes: turns out that Binder and Raimi are old Tamakwa campmates. [23 Apr 1993, p.C2]

The basic problem with Indian Summer: The movie sacrifices credibility in an attempt to get easy laughs. [23 Apr 1993]

How truly, madly, deeply mediocre is Indian Summer, the comedy-drama about adults returning to summer camp, released by Disney's Touchstone Pictures? So mediocre it makes the 1966 Disney scouts-in-the-woods comedy ``Follow Me, Boys'' look good. [26 Apr 1993, p.D05]

Indian Summer would like to be to the '90s what "The Big Chill" was to the '80s. But something is missing, namely a superior cast, a more engaging group of characters, a far smarter, more focused script, and Lawrence Kasdan's expertly timed direction. This is a wan knockoff. Read full review

I've short-sheeted beds and belted out camp songs with the best of them. Indian Summer made me long to be back in one of those gloriously rickety, mildewed cabins in a lush, rural forest. Provided, that is, I wouldn't have to bunk with any of the stupefyingly self-involved, gee-how-can-I-be-happy-with-all-my-wealth-and-beauty morons that Camp Tamakwa apparently produces. Despite tantalizing ingredients like the beguiling cast and spectacular scenery (the film is shot on location at the real Camp Tamakwa in Ontario's Algonquin Provincial Park), writer/director Mike Binder serves up an unappetizing concoction of Big Chill and Ernest Goes to Camp stew. Read full review

Indian Summer is a mish-mash of mediocre formulas. Although there are several good comedy sequences, this uneven humor is unable to camouflage the essential weakness of the storyline. The script, which relies heavily on conflict, doesn't present us with any believable characters. Reunion stories have been done so often that for one to make an impression, it needs a new angle (Peter's Friends, Kenneth Branagh's recent film, fell into the same trap). Indian Summer doesn't even attempt to strike out towards new ground. It finds a comfortable, cliche-filled groove and sits there. Read full review