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Jesse McCartney, Elisabeth Harnois, Jennifer Grey

Tiger Beat teen idol Jesse McCartney takes the title role in writer/director Todd Kessler's drama about a second-semester high-school senior named Natalie (Elisabeth Harnois), who believes she has lif... read more read more...e figured out until happening upon Keith, a troubled and unpredictable youth who begins to alter her perspective in ways she never thought possible. Keith is based on author Ron Carlson's short story of the same name. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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77% liked it

24,110 ratings

PG-13, 1 hr. 33 min.

Directed by: Todd Kessler

Release Date: September 19, 2008

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DVD Release Date: February 3, 2009

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Flixster Reviews (1,278)


  • November 1, 2011
    Excellent, Excellent movie. The story is unbelievably striking, and the acting is beautifully done. Love Jesse McCartney in this movie, Elisabeth Harnois is great as well (:
  • June 27, 2011
    To all of you who think Jesse is just a singer and has nothing to do with movies I have to tell you this:He proves us wrong by acting even better than singing!
  • June 7, 2011
    Surprisingly good movie. I honestly wasn't expecting much due to the casting of Jesse Mccartney...but he surprised me. He did quite well, as did the entire cast. The story is very compelling, and I found myself drawn in. Probably more of a teen flick, but I still enjoyed it.
  • May 16, 2011
    I LOVE Jesse McCartney....but this movie sucked a lot.

    The script was terrible. I mean how many times was the word "shit" used in this movie? Way too many to count. Not only that, but the script seemed like it was so clever when really it was cheesy and stupid. Everything that... read more came out of Keith's mouth was ridiculously dumb. The whole time I was like Jesse McCartney what the HELL were you thinking! Anyone who read the script HAD to have known the movie was going to suck.

    The acting was also pretty lame. I mean the parents of Natalie were so obnoxious. They were so crazy and psychotic their characters were not believable at all. Natalie's boyfriend Raff was also so unrealistic. What a controlling jerk. He always has to be up in her business. Natalie should've dumped him a long time ago. Jesse's acting was probably sub par, I cut him some slack though since he really hasn't been in many movies.

    The plot came exactly from A Walk to Remember. Yeah they changed a few things around, but it was pretty much identical. A girl meets a boy who has (SPOILER) cancer, and her life is changed by him, and he dies afterwards. So unoriginal. They might as well just called it "Another Walk to Remember" the sequel to the first one.

    I thought the movie would be okay, but I was sorely mistaken. The plot was so rushed and inconsistent. Not my kind of movie at all. Everyone who wrote a fresh review of this movie has the worst possible taste in films. You can't just rate it good because it has Jesse McCartney in it. I'm a huge JMac fan, but even his gorgeous presence wasn't able to make this movie a winner.
  • September 27, 2010
    Actually really beautiful. Great performances, interesting premise, and so much build up.
  • November 30, 2009
    Wasn't quite what I was expecting, but I did like it. I thought it would be a light teen movie, but it actually had quite a serious theme to it, similar to A walk to Remember. Both the lead actors were good in this, had not heard of either before. Worth a look.
  • August 9, 2009
    The draw of some people is so strong that you can't fight it. This movie shows that really well.
  • December 21, 2011
    There was something so sad, yet beautiful about this film. It wasn't just a love story, but rather a film about life, that shows us not only to appreciate it, but to appreciate the opportunity it affords us. The film is about the ability to choose what path your life takes and to... read more appreciate the fact that you have a choice. I honestly didn't think this film would be very good, but Jesse McCartney was terrific in Summerland, so I decided to check it out. Jesse, you need to realize it's time to ditch the shitty pop songs and stick to acting, because you were truly great as Keith. Elisabeth Harnois was also very good as Natalie, and as I watched the movie, I realized I was feeling what her character was feeling, the textbook sign of an amazing performance. Honestly, it's a shame that big budget films get all the recognition, while something this magical is labeled direct-to-video and thrown in the $5.99 bin.
  • October 10, 2010
    I was channel surfing yet again amongst the premium channels and I stumbled across this surprisingly compelling Independent teen-drama/romance [with a bit of humor thrown in] on SHO2. Director Todd Kessler did a good job with the script by David Zabel, based on the short story by... read more Ron Carlson. Just by reading the plot it seemed like a cliche but there was something special about this film.

    Great performances by Elizabeth Harnois ("Point Pleasant", "Ten Inch Hero", "A Single Man") and Jesses McCartney ("Beware the Gonzo", "Summerland")...I was especially surprised by his performance, their chemistry was actually quite amazing. Good supporting performances by Michael McGrady ("Southland","Day Break" ,"Half Past Dead"), Margo Harshman ("Even Stevens", "Sorority Row", "Fired Up!", "Run of the House"), Jennifer Grey ("Dirty Dancing", "Red Dawn", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Bounce"), Ethan Phillips ("Star Trek: Voyager", "Governmentia", "The Island", "Lean on Me", "Benson"), Ignacio Serrichio ("States of Grace","Cold Play", "General Hospital", "Quarantine 2: Terminal"), and Zack Rockefeller. Good score by Tree Adams ("Californication", "In Plain Sight", "Wasted", "Things Fall Apart" - upcoming drama), the score goes very well with the film, especially towards the end - the way sound of the guitar really pulls at your heartstrings. Great cinematography by Darko Suvak ("Danika", "8MM 2", "True Blue").

    Overall it was a very good film. What I got from it is that life is short, nothing is exactly as it seems, love is unpredictable - you can't choose who you fall in love with, and love can drive you to the brink of sanity. I'm really glad I gave this movie a chance, it really surprised me...especially the acting.
  • August 26, 2010
    Wasn't sure what to expect from this, but when it ended I was impressed by it.
    The plot is fairly familiar, but it doesn't cease to impress. The acting was great and really inhanced the film.

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Facts


    • Keith: We're here in a yellow truck a road ahead of us and nothing but opportunities.

Keith : Watch Free on TV


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