Memorable, crazy movie

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Unfortunately movies about characters adrift and trying to find themselves don't make for good cinema. Kristen Bell's misguided millennial has returned home to pick up her glory days in high school by getting her old lifeguard gig back. Thewestchestarian imagines being a lifeguard at the same small municipal pool everyday must eventually get pretty old and in real life you wouldn't want to slog back through it again for love nor money. Once installed in the tall chair the movie is unclear about what to do with Kristen's character so it introduces others with problems that are at least more comparatively interesting. Her best friend is now an assistant principal whom her old school and her aging husband are trying to tress up with the bounds of responsibility. Her rebellion against real responsibility makes Bell's characters seems fairly inconsequential and thus not really movie-worthy. The very late 20 somethings hanging around - and in some cases doing much more - with the current crop of local teenagers does come across as sort of pervy and a little pathetic. It seems like there are less pedophillc ways to rebel against adulthood. In short, the great American millennial story has yet to be written and this certainly isn't it.

The script is mediocre. The dialogue is particularly clunky. Liberal use of the F word is not offensive; it's just awkward. Kristen Bell is always good, but she seems to end up in one unworthy role after another. (I wasn't a big fan of Veronica Mars, but it was a quality project and should have resulted in better roles than this.) Plenty of problematic scripts get made into movies. Part of the actors' jobs is to make them work. Silk purse out of a sow's ear, as they used to say. Gummer and Starr and Madigan all seem to think that overacting is the answer to the challenge. It isn't. Sincerity isn't achieved by overacting. Lambert's character has some wonderful moments and some very weak ones. He could have benefited from the strong hand of a director, but there is little evidence of that in this film. Shaffer, so wonderful in Win Win, is completely wasted here. All in all, Bell fans will probably need to see it. (With no make-up, she looks every bit her real age.) The rest of you can skip it.

The good news is this film cannot be placed in one of the common genres. The directing was good, the scenes gave depth such as the vacant pool shot from a low height and the close ups of the characters inspired an emotional response. The acting seemed appropriate to the story, the story did not connect with me so the acting seemed just adequate and not great by any of the charactersI saw several previous films combined in The Lifeguard. Summer of 42 for the coming of age element. The Year of Living Dangerously for tiger in the apartment. And her bus trip to and from NYC was reminiscent of many 'you can't go back' movies. Her parents reminded me of the televangelist fans in Repo Man. Overall I usually defend Kristen Bell and her acting was okay but was this the right movie for her?

This film tells the story of a 29 years old journalist, who is confused by her life and decides to go back to her hometown to sort out that she really wants.I thought "The Lifeguard" was a comedy, but it was far from it. It tells the story of a woman who is confused with her life, making some unfortunate life choices which have drastic consequences. Various individuals in the eye of the storm react differently, and the way they differ is engaging. It tests the viewers' emotions and the limits, which it succeeds big time. However, the ending is rushed and confusing, I do not quite understand why the teacher has to talk to the father in the parking lot. It would have been more logical for the lifeguard who makes that speech.