The Lost Weekend

Three youths go to a house by the beach for a weekend of fun. However, one of them has feelings that create complications.

The story takes place in the summer of 2004 and three teenage male friends are spending a weekend at a house in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. These youngsters are James (Egan), Nick (Lynch) and Dylan (Ray). Their main intentions are to party and have a good time with girls, however James is inexperienced regarding girls, contrary to the other two. Eventually, they encounter a group of three girls their age and James is attracted to one of them, whose name is Caroline (Lang). The girls are invited to the house for a party, where things get dramatic.

Masculinity is a major theme in this short coming-of-age drama and the story is told through James's perspective. James is a sensitive young boy who attended an All Boys Catholic School and has not lost his virginity. Dylan is supportive of James, unfortunately Nick is an obnoxious guy who views women as sex objects and he is annoyed by James's reserved personality and mocks him due to his lack of sexual experience. Self-discovery and self-esteem also play a significant part and these takes place through James, who goes through significant character development as he seems to find happiness with good-hearted Caroline and begins to stand up to Nick. As James gradually proceeds to come out of his shell and the girls get to know the boys, things get romantic, but heated confrontations also arise.

James is the main character and the centre of this film and Egan's dramatic performance portrays him as a reserved person who is different, who does not see things the same way as the other two guys, particularly when it comes to girls and who is not comfortable at trying new things as indicated in the first scene, when he refuses to jump of a bridge. Nick is pretty much the antagonist, not hesitating to make fun of James and express how much he disapproves of him. Nick's character seems to represent negative characteristics about men such as being disrespectful towards women. Caroline serves as James's romantic interest and plays a big part in helping him find out more about who he is.

The film looks great thanks to Norton's creative directing and Michael Henaghan's beautiful cinematography and Nathaniel Wolkstein's romantic and dramatic score adds a great deal of atmosphere to the scenes.

This is a story about a young man's life reaching a turning point. A story about a sexually inexperienced teenager who goes on a journey of self-discovery. It is partially a romance and partially a film about friendship, manhood, growing up and standing up for oneself. The story is intriguing, the characters are interesting and the themes that are explored make this a thoughtful viewing.