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Going
out to the beach with your girlfriends for a fun summertime adventure filled
with dances, boys, beach music, and bad decisions all before you journey to
adulthood and your youth dies sounds like something I want to write—and
accomplish—in my bucket list. While the most I can get out of summer is living
like a hermit in the sauna I call my room, watching movies like Shag (1989) makes me feel like I am
having fun without having to move an inch from my laptop.
The film tells the story of four
friends—wild Melaina (Bridget Fonda), insecure Pudge (Annabeth Gish),
strait-laced Luanne (Page Hannah), and pretty Carson (Phoebe Cates)—who goes to
Myrtle Beach in 1963 for one last bonding moment before one of them gets
married and they all go their separate ways. There might be some cliché
concepts like the usual characteristics (there’s the adventurous one, the timid
one, the prim one known for her beauty, and the one who tries to keep them out
of trouble) and the common let’s-get-wild-for-one-weekend trope. Nevertheless, the film is fun and nostalgic;
and while I might not get into that “I think I’m born in the wrong decade”
bandwagon, I can’t help but admire the fashion (so many exposed midriff and
dainty dresses) and the music. Heck, it even made me want to learn the Carolina
shag even though it looked hard to learn seeing the steps on YouTube.
The four friends meet Buzz (Robert Rusler) and
Chip (Scott Coffey), with the former pursuing Carson who is already engaged to “square”
Harley (Tyrone Power, Jr.) and was unaware that they were even going to Myrtle
Beach in the first place. Melaina also plans to catch the eye of Jimmy
Valentine, an Elvis Presley lookalike who seems really bored of his pop star
life.
It’s quite interesting that while
the girls seem to have distinct characteristics and different plans for the
future, the film shows that they’re multi-faceted and how they change
throughout the movie. Luanne who is very uptight learns to let loose once in a
while. Carson, on the other hand, starts out longing to call her fiancé and was
at first against going to Myrtle Beach. But in the end, she was the one to tell
Luanne, “This was our last weekend together, and we didn't feel like going to
Fort Sumter and touring goddamn colonial homes. We wanted to go to the beach…I
mean why can't we tell them the truth?” I did feel a bit sorry for Luanne
though (somehow, the goody-two shoes in me can relate) as she tries to keep
things orderly and fails.
One of the characters that really
caught my attention was Chip, and not just because he was awkward and adorable,
but because I knew I saw him before but I couldn’t tell where. Later, I’ll find
out he played Ray in one of my most favorites films, Some Kind of Wonderful, as the guy Watts hires to make Keith
jealous.
Carson and Buzz may have a more passionate romance—albeit it
was très creepy to see Buzz so adamant and pushy even when Carson keeps telling
him she’s engaged—but it was the sweet relationship between timid Pudge and
gawky Chip that I found most endearing. Unlike the other characters who seem to
have been clued in the mysterious guide book on love (Melaina advises Pudge
about boys), these two are a little bit clueless, shy, and for a lack of better
term, simply cute.
Spoiler: it was hilariously sweet when Pudge, who reveals her
crush to Melaina, takes her friend’s advice to look irresistible, act cold, and
then apologize five minutes later only to find out that Chip’s already left.
And then Chip, on the other hand, asks Luanne’s dad for advice because he was
so accustomed to girls treating him like a “dirtball” after they find out he
likes them so this time, he tried to act cool as if he “was not in love with
her.” He probably thought Pudge acted cold towards him because he believed she
knew he was in love with her. Honestly, I still watch the movie over again just
to watch their interactions; that’s how adorkable they are as a couple.
Movies about four friends and one
summer to remember aren’t new (hello, Sisterhood
of the Travelling Pants and Now and
Then, to name a few). But Shag still
stood the test of time, resonating with audiences decades later.
Rating:
8/10
*It’s rare that I watch a movie over
and over again without getting bored, but I have seriously watched this film
two times in one day.
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