Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Adults return to beloved summer camp; language, drugs, sex.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Indian Summer
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
INDIAN SUMMER gathers an ensemble cast to reminisce about their last summer at Camp Tamakwa 20 years before. After decades running the camp, owner Unca Lou (Alan Arkin) is retiring and sends himself off by hosting a group from the camp's "golden years." Seven of the 30 he invited show up and, unsurprisingly, two decades of living have imprinted on these campers. Beth (Diane Lane), now a mourning widow, was the athlete who could beat the boys in races. Jamie (Matt Craven) was a jerk back then and still is. He's brought an extremely young girlfriend named Gwen (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) to show off to the others, seemingly to bolster his unflagging virility. The other campers are grappling with various issues. The old friends deal with unresolved feelings and current problems as they question their life choices.
Is It Any Good?
Indian Summer is corny and earnest and entertaining. Good acting—by Arkin, Lane, and the others—helps when the plot feels flimsy and stymied by unresolved character issues. What can be done about Matt, who bullies his young girlfriend? The girlfriend leaves him, but there's not much evidence he will learn from the experience. Beth takes a chance and opens up, so good for her. Unca Lou admits a wrong of the past. Nothing much more earth-shaking than that happens, but we remain interested.
Fun fact: The incompetent camp maintenance man is played by Sam Raimi, director of The Evil Dead and several Spider-Man pictures. (He's a childhood friend of this film's director, Mike Binder.) Throughout the movie, there is a sense of yet-to-be-revealed doom, that something awful will happen, perhaps that the lovable Lou will announce he's retiring not because he no longer understands kids today but because of a terminal illness. That doesn't happen, so all that built-up tension over an impending life-changing revelation is never realized.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what it feels like to revisit haunts from one's childhood. Have you gone back to places you haven't been for a long time? How did it feel?
A young woman is mourning the death of her young husband only a year before, and friends are encouraging her to have sex. Do you think someone still raw from a loss would be looking for a relationship so soon? Why, or why not?
When Unca Lou says he doesn't understand the current crop of kids, he refers to their interest in the technology of the 1990s as the problem. Kids have "boomboxes" and wear headphones, thereby missing out on nature. What do you think he would make of kids on their computers and cellphones today?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : April 23, 1993
- Cast : Alan Arkin , Bill Paxton , Elizabeth Perkins
- Director : Mike Binder
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Buena Vista
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 97 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : some drug content, sexuality and language
- Last updated : July 29, 2025
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