Four friends head to Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland, to celebrate high school graduation.Four friends head to Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland, to celebrate high school graduation.Four friends head to Senior Week in Ocean City, Maryland, to celebrate high school graduation.
- Awards
- 3 wins
Josh Davis
- Josh
- (as Josh Adam Davis)
- Director
- Writer
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaAt Seacrets, Josh is wearing sound mixer Carmine Picarello's 1992 Visor.
- ConnectionsSpin-off Tony and Cal (2010)
Featured review
A Close Call
On the surface, "The Graduates" looks like all those other coming-of-age high school flicks, complete with virginal dudes and binge drinking in a resort town. However, the writer/director here shoots for something more, and frustratingly comes up a little short. A carload of recently graduated Baltimore high schoolers are headed to Ocean City, Maryland to drink and get laid. We have normal every guy Ben (Rob Bradford), who is in lust with Annie (Stephanie Lynn), but is secretly loved by best friend Megs (Laurel Reese). Ben's older brother Josh (Josh Davis) is in his twenties but still heads down to graduates' week (think Matthew McConaughey in "Dazed and Confused"). Freaky Nickie (Mike Pennacchio) is a rich kid on meds who tries too hard to fit in as a regular dude. Nerdy Andy (Blake Merriman) is in a committed chaste relationship with his girlfriend, who wants something more, and Mattie (Nick Vergara) plays a father figure role in the group. While the normal boring parties begin (nice to see some things haven't changed since I was a senior in high school- like a keg and more than three people constitute a "party"- the guys are thrown for a loop. Their tentative plans begin to unravel, as they must grow up now that they are out of high school. They are still dealing with high school level dramatics and situations (iffy sex, long-term relationships that are anything but, and plans after summer ends), but this one shortened weekend changes everybody.
Ryan Gielen throws the viewer into the mix, and demands we start caring about these characters before we get to know them. Most of them have too many stock traits, and many of the situations have been done to death- I kept rolling my eyes as Ben kept ignoring the perfect Megs to try and get with a very cranky Annie. I hated that I had seen this all before, even during the more darkly comic moments. Although, I am still slightly recommending the film. Why? I haven't been in high school in decades, but when I was there, I knew every single one of these people. The cast is unbelievably good, not pounding out a bunch of insult punchlines and showing everyone what's in their underwear. Gielen takes some familiar situations and turns them on their ear, making them uncomfortable to watch like Mattie teaching a just-jailed Nickie a lesson or Josh running into an old friend from school, and still making them compelling. The soundtrack is really good by indy bands I haven't heard of. Two stand-outs among the supporting cast are spectacularly funny: Megs' friend Rachel (Rachel Kiri Walker) and party host Stuart (Max Lodge) had me laughing the hardest. And if Judd Nelson ever needed someone to play a younger version of himself, give Nick Vergara a call. His Mattie character doesn't really stand out much, but Vergara gives him an intensity and edge that almost makes up for the weakly drawn character. This isn't a laugh-a-minute teen comedy, and it doesn't spoof those films, either. "The Graduates" meanders along, detrimentally takes its own sweet time, yet is still worthwhile.
Ryan Gielen throws the viewer into the mix, and demands we start caring about these characters before we get to know them. Most of them have too many stock traits, and many of the situations have been done to death- I kept rolling my eyes as Ben kept ignoring the perfect Megs to try and get with a very cranky Annie. I hated that I had seen this all before, even during the more darkly comic moments. Although, I am still slightly recommending the film. Why? I haven't been in high school in decades, but when I was there, I knew every single one of these people. The cast is unbelievably good, not pounding out a bunch of insult punchlines and showing everyone what's in their underwear. Gielen takes some familiar situations and turns them on their ear, making them uncomfortable to watch like Mattie teaching a just-jailed Nickie a lesson or Josh running into an old friend from school, and still making them compelling. The soundtrack is really good by indy bands I haven't heard of. Two stand-outs among the supporting cast are spectacularly funny: Megs' friend Rachel (Rachel Kiri Walker) and party host Stuart (Max Lodge) had me laughing the hardest. And if Judd Nelson ever needed someone to play a younger version of himself, give Nick Vergara a call. His Mattie character doesn't really stand out much, but Vergara gives him an intensity and edge that almost makes up for the weakly drawn character. This isn't a laugh-a-minute teen comedy, and it doesn't spoof those films, either. "The Graduates" meanders along, detrimentally takes its own sweet time, yet is still worthwhile.
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- NoDakTatum
- Nov 3, 2023
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $150,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 37 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.66 : 1
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