US 92 Mins
It’s 1985. Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) is on his summer holidays, trying to avoid his family and meet girls. First, he meets Teddy Fryy (Myles Massey), an African-American kid from Baltimore who shares his love of rap and breakdancing and they become tight. Then, he meets his crush, Stacy Summers (Emmi Shockley), a local girl addicted to slushies – with additives. But to gain her heart, he thinks he needs to beat local bully Lyle (Joseph McCaughtry), flanked by hilarious bully sidekick Dale (Andy Riddle) and there’s only one way to do this. Ping Pong.
I loved this film so much. It’s a hark back to days of holiday friends, being trusted to be away from the temporary family home for hours at a time, walkmans and teenage crushes. I think it really works so well because all of those cheesy lines that the audience roars with laughter at were really the expressions that we wanted to use (and often did use); and we were laughing with familiarity and love. But some of those lines are truly magnificent, and a mash-up of lines from Dale alone is certainly warranted (come on, Internet. Bring it on!).
If you ever felt like you were doing the worm and wondered what you really look like – check out this film. Chances are, you were just like Rad Miracle.
Ping Pong Summer is screening at 1:30pm on Sunday August 3 at Hoyts and at 6:30pm on Monday August 11 at the Forum. Book tickets at MIFF http://miff.com.au/program/search or call 9662 3722
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