Why so much hype?

Entertaining from beginning to end, it maintains the spirit of the franchise while establishing it's own seal with a fun cast

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Blistering performances.

I remember seeing this movie long ago when it was first released to video. Yes, it's that old. At the time I remember thinking it was a good movie but it never really stuck with me for some reason. I always recalled the name and that of the young actor in the lead role but it wasn't until revisiting it just now that I was dumbstruck by the talents of this young woman. She was just 14 at the time and this was her first film. Her name is Reese Witherspoon.The movie tells the story of two sisters in 1957 farm country. Growing up together they are the best of friends with Maureen Trant (Emily Warfield) the older of the two and about to go off to college at Duke. Dani Trant (Witherspoon) is only 14 and coming out of her tomboy phase, in love with Elvis and about to become a young woman.The summer the story takes place in changes everything about the two girls. In the case of Maureen she's unsure of what her future holds, not quite certain if she should get her education or simply marry a young man and become a housewife like her mother. She has a steady beau but his constant need for something more physical than she wants to offer is a block for the two of them.Dani on the other hand still loves to jump in the nearby watering hole and spend her summer having fun when she can get away with it. Her father Matthew (Sam Waterston) wants her to start taking responsibility but her mother Abigail (Tess Harper) tells him that he must have missed that age when she was too young to run off and now is suddenly too old to have fun.The catalyst for change comes in the form of new neighbors. Mother Marie (Gail Strickland) is an old friend of the Trants. A single mother raising three boys two are at that age of being unmanageable. Her eldest Court (Jason London) at 16 is the man of the family and on his shoulders lies the farm that they've just returned to.Dani meets Court by accident before being formally introduced while swimming. The two are combative but beneath it all you can tell that she's attracted to him, something she's not quite used to and doesn't know how to deal with. An attraction between the two develops but Court knows full well he is too old for Dani. But he might be just the right age for Maureen.In the middle of this possible romantic triangle are a few other issues to deal with. First off is Abigail's pregnancy which comes into question after she trips outside in a storm trying to find Dani who ran off for a midnight swim. It's an event that nearly causes a few rifts in the family. Then there is Court trying to take on the responsibilities of a man while still in high school.Before the end of the film all issues are resolved. Those resolutions are not easy ones and much pain is involved. What is left to discover before the credits role is just who will come out unscathed? The movie is a marvel to watch on so many levels. Director Robert Mulligan draws some amazing performances from all involved. His experiences making movies like TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and SUMMER OF '42 show how capable he is and this film just proves that even more. Freddie Francis is the director of photography and he brings to life the slow buzz of bugs in the trees and the slow soft hear of summer to life with each image.All of the actors involved do a fantastic job. But most impressive is that done by Witherspoon. This is not to slight the other actors involved but the fact that this was her first film, that she went to a casting call hoping to get a minor supporting role and came away with the lead makes her performance all that more amazing. There are moments watching the film when subtle nuances in the look on her face would make you think she'd been doing this for ages. Why she was overlooked for an Oscar nomination for this performance is beyond me.Released in 1991 this movie has never found itself in heavy rotation on movie channels or talked about much. That's a shame. I found it to be one of the most touching and enjoyable films I've watched in some time. Hopefully word of mouth will help others to find this film. It deserves more attention than it's received. Witherspoon has grown to show what a formidable presence she is and this is the movie that started it all.

I like romances. Here's what I liked: the scenery (I got the "feel" of living in rural Louisiana, and that was great); and Matt's good, fatherly words to Dani on the boat were worth the movie. Here's where the movie failed me. Though I love Sam Waterston, I'm a northerner who's now lived in the South for 14 years, and see here and elsewhere that when northerners (Sam's from Boston) try to play Southerners, they get so much wrong, which Sam does. I like his fatherly role, but his style, mannerisms, and accent are just out of place as a Louisiana dad. If I were a Southerner, I'd feel very poorly represented. Sometimes the writing was just bad, with characters saying things way too "philosophy of life-ish." They were little monologues that were out of place. Lastly, with the writing, characters are sometimes having all this emotion one way or the other when "all that" wouldn't be possible to have built up in the character in the short time frame that the storyline proposes. There's betrayal in the movie that is simply accepted by all the characters (but one), so the person wronged is never given any sense of consolation or true apology. That left me wanting. Maureen's character was flat--in the end, I needed some kind of character growth (realizations) in her that the writer(s) never delivered. That was disappointing.

I know this movie was made over 20 years ago but it is still a movie everyone can watch and enjoy This was Reese Witherspoon's movie debut and could arguably be her best performance to date, even though her superb performance in 'Walk The Line' was certainly deserving of the Oscar she won We must neither forget all the other movies she has made, notably the two 'Legally Blonde' movies She made this movie when she was 14/15 and her superb acting ability was plain to see from the outset SPOILER BEGINS Reese plays Dani Trant an adolescent teenage tomboy who falls in love with a boy a few years older than herself, Court Foster, played by Jason London. She got her first kiss from him.Unfortunately for Dani she has an older sister, Maureen, played by Emily Warfield and when Maureen and Court meet it is love at first sight Although this obviously caused a rift between the two sisters and was possibly going to tear them apart forever, events took a tragic turn when Court was killed in a tractor accident From this tragedy eventually Dani and Maureen managed to find a way to heal their differences SPOILER ENDS The script was extremely tastefully written and an ideal baptism on the silver screen for Reese The acting on everyones part was wonderful, but Rees Witherspoon I must say did steal the show The direction by Robert Mulligan was excellent and the setting of the movie was also very well thought out.I give this movie a 9 rating and would thoroughly recommend it to everyone.

Not a big story, but it packs a punch. Story about two sisters, and a boy in late '50s countryside farm. Dani (Rheese Whetherspoon) has an older sister who's smart, and beautiful. One day she meets Court (Jason London) , a young man who was recently hired at her father's farm at her property's river while she was swimming au natural. First she doesn't like his brash demeanor, but slowly warms up to him. Then her sister starts to take interest in him too.I've never seen Rheese Whetherspoon so beautiful. This was her early career masterpiece. The movie is shot beautifully. Every scene is vivid, and worth the watch just for the beauty of the countryside scenery.IMO Court had no business playing the two sisters, although it was probably unintentional on his part. Teenage hormones takes the story for the ride. In the end it had a price on him.Stick to the first girl that loves you seems to be the message of this movie. I would have loved to see the two go off on to a bright future.