Although I didn't necessarily plan it, Lifeguards sort of became a theme for my summer movie viewing. It began in July when I attended a screening of Staten Island Summer, resulting in a piece featuring actor John DeLuca. This was followed in August with my watching 1976's Lifeguard for a story in my Last Gasp Of Summer themed series. The trilogy concluded with my watching 2013's The Lifeguard last weekend.
Writer and director Liz W. Garcia's The Lifeguard features Kristen Bell and Mamie Gummer in a flick that although arguably weaker than the other two flicks, I think was my favorite. There are many movies about men who struggle to grow up, but very few use the theme on women. Bell plays a struggling New York reporter who quits her job and moves, along with her cat, back into her childhood home in Connecticut.
Living back at home isn't all that's cracked up to be. In addition to her mom not exactly wanting her there, returning to her old life isn't as simple as she though. Bell's character Leigh gets a job as a lifeguard at a local pool and it's there she meets the much younger Little Jason, the son of her new boss. Little Jason is played by 22 year old David Lambert, an actor many might be familiar with from The Fosters.
It is not hard to understand why Leigh would be attracted to Little Jason. Although in some ways he struggling to grow up as well, in other ways he much more grounded and mature than she is. I hadn't seen Lambert on screen before, but he is incredibly talented and that face and his lips and those eyes drew me right in. I have yet to watch The Fosters, but there have been so many signs, including being introduced to Mr Lambert, that tell me I need to give it a shot.
Below: David by Shanna Fisher
