Summer of '42

Summer of '42 is currently streaming in Australia on HBO Max, and it delivers exactly the kind of comedy that earns a loyal following. The runtime earns every minute, with nothing here that feels like padding. A 7/10 rating says what the writing already makes obvious: this one works. Jennifer O'Neill leads a cast with real comic timing. There is no real reason to keep putting it off — it is right there on HBO Max.

Summer of '42 arrived without much fanfare and built its audience the hard way — through word of mouth. Summer of '42 gets the fundamentals right first, then finds room to get weird with it. Over the summer of 1942 on Nantucket Island, three friends -- Hermie, Oscy and Benjie -- are more concerned with getting laid than anything else. Hermie falls in love with the married Dorothy, whose husband is an army pilot recently sent to the battlefront of World War II. Jennifer O'Neill and Gary Grimes lead a cast that brings real weight to the material. It was released in 1971. Summer of '42 earns its laughs from character rather than situation, which is why it does not wear thin the way pure farce tends to. It knows exactly what it is, and does not try to be anything else.

Summer of '42 is the kind of thing you put on in the background and end up fully watching. It rewards viewers regardless of what else is in their watch history. It is a manageable watch, easy to fit into a single evening. Jennifer O'Neill is funny in a way that holds up on rewatch. Put it on when you need something guaranteed to land.