The Last Day of Summer (film)

Plot

The film begins with Luke preparing for a sleepover with his best friends, A.J. and Riley. The date is August 31, the second to last day of summer vacation. Luke and his pals are going into their first year of middle school and, if that weren't stressful enough, he has his older sister, Diana constantly worrying him with the dangers of junior high. She warns him of the bully, Meat, who is a constant threat to incoming sixth graders. Luke waves it off and goes to his friend's house for a sleepover.

The following morning, the kids chat in their tent about the big step into sixth grade and what will wait for them there. Afterwards, they go to a carnival, where they run into Luke's crush, Alice Keefe and her friend Dory Sorenson. Like most children do, he doesn't know what to say and ends up looking foolish. Luke and his friends go to get something to eat where they have their first encounter with Meat and his friends, who do nothing more than steal their food and warn them of the life that will proceed them when they ascend into middle school. Next, they proceed to the skate park, where they see their idol, an experienced skater named Snake, who is extremely talented at skating and speaks a language similar to English (using terms like "fluid" and "melon", substituting for "cool" and "head" respectively). Snake gives the boys some advice about riding before they leave the park.

Meanwhile, at the carnival, the town's annual talent show is about to be held. Luke and his friends are in a band called Steel Monkey and are scheduled to perform during the talent show. Luke, along with A.J. and Riley, are nervous about screwing up during the show and looking even worse in middle school. Luke wishes that the day would never end, that he could do all he wanted with his final day of summer. Seconds later, while Luke is helping return a frisbee to its owner, he is accidentally hit in the head from a piece of wood. When Luke recovers, he finds himself in the same tent he woke up in that morning. After he lets out a scream and wakes his friends up, he discovers nobody else has gone back in time with him, thus making him seem crazy when he tries explaining the situation to his friends. Throughout the movie, many things cause him to re-do the day many times. Luke repeats the day at least 8 times. Each time the day is repeated, Luke tries to impress Alice, teach Meat kindness, show off his skateboarding skills to Snake, teach Maxine how to pedal a bike, and tell his sister her friends are looking for her after encountering them each time.

He then finally makes it to the concert without getting hit by the large board, and Luke with his friends perform a song on stage, receiving generally positive feedback from the audience. However, a chipmunk on top of the stage falls down and knocks Luke out. The movie ends when he wakes up on the first day of school, only to have to stay home after sustaining a head injury from the chipmunk. His friends then come over before school starts, and talk to him. The movie ends when Luke sees butterflies flying past the window.

Cast

Soundtrack

DVD

The film was released on DVD August 28, 2007 along with Shredderman Rules.

Reception

The film received mixed reviews, gaining a 68% on Rotten Tomatoes.