Dog Days of Summer (2007) User Reviews

Overlong coming of age tale that might have been better in a shorter Twlight Zone episode

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 4 May 2009]

Coming of age memory tale concerning a man who returns to his home town before it's flooded for a power project in order to try to come to terms with the past. He remembers back to the summer when a mysterious stranger comes to town and forced him to grow up and the town to see itself for what it was. It's magical realism of the sort that Ray Bradbury or the Twilight Zone did so well. Here its done well but unfortunately it stretched to probably twice the length it should be. I know that had the film been shorter it would never have gone anywhere but at the same time I don't really think that this works as well as long as it is. More so with the several of the dark turns happening with no real pay off including one death, the one that ends our hero's childhood, happening before we simply move to the next thing. I'm sure that the build up was supposed to make up for it, but for me it just sort of fell flat. I kind of felt the same way that the people seeing the finished model that Cottonmouth makes feel. Worth a look but I'd wait for cable.

Ignorance is bliss

[mross-wa · 7/10 · 3 September 2012]

It should be clear that 'Dog Days of Summer' is not a formulaic film crafted for box office success. It is an independently produced film often compared to 'Something Wicked This Way Comes' -- whose screenplay Paramount bought but then allowed to lapse and Disney bought, reworked, filmed, and reworked more before its release, earning $8.4 million on a $19 million budget.

But the comparison is based on two young boys having significant leading roles and the use of mysticism in the screenplay. Whereas 'Something Wicked' maintained a level of mysticism throughout, 'Dog Days' begins in total realism and ends in total mysticism without revealing whether its central character, Eli Cottonmouth, has mystic powers. It also eliminates any family-friendly audience draw by eliminating one of its young leads.

To producer/director Mark Freiburger, it's the story of a man going back to rediscover the faith of childhood before it's too late – not faith in God, but faith in humanity, that people are good and just. Jaded viewers will be unable to see this quest, convinced that, to a child, ignorance is bliss that the filmmakers mistook for faith.

Not really a baseball movie

[charlytully · 6/10 · 4 April 2011]

In the "making of" for DOG DAYS OF SUMMER--which is officially titled DOG DAYS OF SUMMER: IN THE DARK ROOM--first-time feature producer\director Mark Freiburger notes that he came up with the initial idea for this story while watching his sister's boyfriend play baseball for the Edenton Steamers team in Edenton, NC while he himself was still in high school. Upon graduation from North County School of the Arts film school, Mark and his cohorts from college made a beeline to what Mark describes as "the town that time forgot" to film their revised update to Mark Twain's 1899 novella, THE MAN THAT CORRUPTED HADLEYBURG. (Though Twain is NOT credited or acknowledged in this film or its "making of," if the writers are not familiar with this story, then the similarities between film and book are among the darnedest coincidences in the history of art. Speaking of which, the movie's "big reveal" is a total "borrowing" from the climactic scene of Nathaniel Hawthorne's great American novel, THE SCARLET LETTER.)

Derivative or not, a flashback to boyhood by film narrator Phil Walden (Thoreau's WALDEN POND: the life idyllic, get it?) comprises the bulk of DOG DAYS OF SUMMER, beginning with a Steamers victory game vignette. But fans of the national pastime will be disappointed to discover that this is DOG DAYS last visit to the ball diamond. The only remaining baseball references are a brutal beating with ball bats by three of the players shown earlier, and young Phil's subsequent nightmare that his baseball star\juvenile thug brother may have beaten his missing girlfriend to death in similar fashion. While a better-than-average directorial debut, DOG DAYS is unlikely to appeal to baseball fans based on its diamond action.

Growing up and seeing things in a different light.

[painting_monalisa · 8/10 · 24 February 2008]

This was a good coming of age/growing up and life changing type film but more in depth about what and how the changes came about. The odd stranger that comes to the small town gives the boys a new way to look at people and things. He guides them. The way the boys perceive the town and how the stranger does also changes the town. It comes full circle for one of the boys as he loses part of his childlike hope and youthfulness in a way but is able to get it back when he comes to understand the things that occurred during that time about that particular summer and small town life.The time period was transcendent but it worked.The story was great and could have happened in any time period.The Cinematography was great and it was shot in 35mm film.The look was marvelous. It was nice that it was not all digital like so many movies. The area they filmed in had a great look and feel. It was a very interesting movie and a bit twilight zone like but not overly.I hope this breaks out of the Indie roll as it was an outstanding movie.

what a special film

[wallacewarmwater · 10/10 · 16 April 2009]

We live in eastern NC and saw this movie at the theater. What a special film! I heard the director say that this was his first film but it sure did not seem like that. He pulled a great performance out of the child actors and you could tell that Will Patton (one of our favorites) really brought his 'A' game. This movie is a really special coming of age film that really had us thinking.

A great message... and interesting story...

It kind of reminded us of Ray Bradbury story... almost like Dandelion Wine...

More than anything, it captured the laid back pace of a small southern town. This is a great 1st film.

An inspiring first film.

[hobbitmanda · 8/10 · 12 May 2008]

I felt this film was very special, as I am an aspiring kid out of college and going on to do film/video production at university, it was a great inspiration to me, and definitely an encouragement during my gap year to work hard at my own ideas. Mark has everything that makes a good director, Determination, a good cinematic eye, and kindness. Which i think clearly shows through each scene during the film. It had a warm, yet sinister atmosphere. With a very down-to-earth approach, therefore holding the brutal truth for some characters. He matched the soundtrack well with the scenes (especially the opening scene), which I picked up on a lot as I am looking to first go into music video production. Overall, I think mark and his crew made a first film to be very proud of, and I can sympathise with how much effort and patience it must have taken to get the film to where it is today. I can't wait to see what else Mr. Freiburger has up his sleeve!

Fine First Film Effort

[drpakmanrains · 8/10 · 16 May 2010]

A stranger drives into a small sleepy town (flashback mode) promising to build a model of the town for its upcoming 250th year celebration. He uses two boys to help him take photographs, one Devon Gearhart, who was excellent in another little known art-house film, "Canvas". What begins somewhat like a sweet family film, turns out to have a darker side, and like other reviewers have mentioned, a fantasy element not unlike a Twilight Zone episode, or even more like Bradbury's "Something Wicked This Way Comes". This is the directors first full length film, and while it is quite good, it ambles along and seems to lack focus as to what the story is trying to say. When it finally comes clearer in the final 15 or 20 minutes, it has some interesting revelations, some Christian elements of retribution for sinful behaviors, and a very touching scene just before the end in a soda fountain about the loss of innocence, which for me made the earlier shortcomings almost irrelevant. There is a folksy quality to the flashback scenes, which comprise the majority of the movie, while the today scenes with the now grownup Philip, are darker in mood and showing virtual total devastation of the town. The movie is filmed in Edenton, North Carolina, a beautiful small historic town on the Albemarle Bay, which adds to the excellent cinematography. This is not a movie for the action crowd, but if you are a fan of Ray Bradbury, as I am, I think you will find this film well worth your time. Just keep in mind that it is the director's first full length effort and cut him a little slack.

Awesome!!!

[sherlockstrangea · 10/10 · 15 June 2022]

I live in Hertford NC and I really wish I could of met Will Patton. That would of been awesome. I work in Edenton and everytime I drive downtown, I keep picturing Will standing near the stop lights with the camera. So awesome. 😊