One of the things Hollywood is very good at tricking us into thinking is that marginalized communities don’t exist. Think of how many movies you’ve seen with all-white casts. And yet, actual all-white communities are exceedingly rare. How many films have women with no real lives outside of the leading man? And, most brutally: How rare is it to see disabled people on screen? They’ve always been present in our communities, but not in our films. The rare occasion they are, it’s played by an able-bodied actor ‘cripping up‘ for a role about the tragedy of whatever disability. The only story Hollywood tells about disability is about loss of ‘normalcy’.
Enter Best Summer Ever. This teen coming-of-age comedy and high school musical has a hook that should seem out of place: Disabled actors are cast in roles typically reserved for able-bodied actors, with no notice or drama. Because this is not a story about disability. Instead, this is a story that acknowledges the everyday lives of disabled folks and takes them seriously. It is so rare to see on screens, it should feel momentous, perhaps a bit out of place. Instead, it just feels natural. It feels like walking down the street and interacting with your neighbors, your friends, your family.
“You say you wanna dance?”
Sage (Shannon DeVido) and Tony (Rickey Alexander Wilson) met at dance camp. They had a magical summer together. In true high school fashion, they fell in love. It was the titular best summer ever. But, like all long high school summers, it had to end. Tony went home, ready for another school year. Sage got in the camper van with her pot-growing lesbian moms to find a new place to sell for the season.
But when Sage’s van breaks down, she finally gets to do something she’s always wanted to do: Go to high school. They stop in a small Pennsylvania town and rent a place while their van is being fixed. Sage starts school with a new friend, waitress Nancy (Emily Kranking). But she quickly realizes that everything Tony had told her was a lie. He wasn’t a professionally trained dancer from Manhattan; he was a small-town football star. And she is going to his school.
Tony has to confront that lie head-on when Sage rolls into his school, and his dancing secret is at risk. Can he help them win the big game and find a way to be honest about his passion? And can Tony and Sage find a way to be together despite the machinations of malevolent cheer captain Beth (MuMu)?
“You’re gonna prove it.”
Directors Lauren Smitelli and Michael Parks Randa have crafted a warm, engaging family film. Part of this is down to the excellent cast, Shannon DeVido and MuMu in particular. Both characters are familiar. Sage is the new girl from a nontraditional background overwhelmed by high school drama. Beth is the mean girl ex obsessed with winning the homecoming crown. But the two actresses breathe so much life into their characters. DeVido, an experienced comedy writer, is equally adept at belting out a ballad and dropping witty comebacks with perfect comic timing. MuMu takes a stock character and amps her up to fifteen, creating the kind of catty monstrosity Ryan Murphy wishes he could craft.
But part of it is just that the atmosphere of the film, which featured a blend of able-bodied and disabled in both the cast and crew. Normally, I don’t bring most of the crew into my reviews unless there’s an obvious controversy. But in the final song and dance of the film, we pan out and begin to see the camera operators, the dolly tracks, the people holding up lights. We don’t just see them; they join in the celebration. The film wants to acknowledge their work more than it wants to maintain the purity of the fictional space. It’s a surprisingly lovely moment.
Best Summer Ever isn’t a groundbreaking story. You’ve seen a high school romantic comedy between a popular boy and an outcast girl dozens of times by now. Hell, as a baseline pitch, Grease meets Glee probably isn’t too far off. And its execution isn’t particularly sophisticated or nuanced. But it is a welcoming, inclusive film that invites you into its family. And, by the end, that seems like a wonderful place to be.
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