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Amos Lassen wrote on 02/22/2011:

“Tan Lines”
A Child of the Sea
Amos Lassen
There is something about a surfer boy just as there is something alluring about the ocean. They are both beautiful, mysterious and seemingly out of reach. Or so I thought until I saw “Tan Lines”, a beautiful new coming of age film from TLA Releasing. “Tan Lines” is a combination of coming of age, gay surfer and teenaged sexuality all rolled into one fantastic movie. There is passion, love, laughs, drugs and, of course, sex. All of this is set against the beautiful backdrop of the ocean.
Midget Hollows (Jack Baxter) loves to party. He also loves to surf and he is gay (and very cute). He and his friends live the surf existence and now that school is out and summer is here, there is not much to do but surf, harass the townspeople, and smoke weed and drink. This may seem an ideal life but Midget begins to feel claustrophobic.
Cass, the older brother of Midget’s best friend. Suddenly comes home after having traveled in Europe for four years. Midget immediately is attracted to him. He is openly gay and exudes self-confidence. He is also a wonderfully graceful surfer. Midget and Cass become involved and their meetings are filled with passion. The problem is that they live in a town where secrets cannot be kept and every one knows what everyone else is doing. Midget realizes that being gay and the life style he leads are incompatible and even though he tries to imitate Cass’s confidence he sees that he can’t and wonders why Cass ran away for four years. Midget thinks that perhaps the confidence of Cass is just a cover-up for his ultimate desire to be accepted.
Midget is entrenched in his town and besides is very close to his mother which makes leave home a difficult decision yet he also feels that if he stays he cannot be himself. He also is afraid that Cass may expose his secret.
Aside from all of this, there are some rather strange happenings going on in the own.
What “Tan Lines” gives us is a look at the surfing culture in a small town and a real look at the craziness of teenage love and emotions felt for the first time. It’s a beautiful movie that has something to say and should not be missed. I predict we will be hearing a lot about it and if you are fortunate to join us at “Reel Attractions—the Arkansas GLBTQ Film Festival on June 23-24 ion Little Rock, you will have a chance o see it before anyone else. It will not be released on DVD until later.

Janorm wrote on 04/09/2008:

Well, finally a flick from Down Under that is really great!! Aldridge has outdone himself in this myoptic story surrounding this young coming-of-age(puberty) man, who happens to e a sufer, in a small coastal town. All of the characters surrounding him directly enhance the story line trementously. This action keeps the audience on its collective toes!! A definite Classic for the Gay Cinema and a worthy addition to your Collection. ALAS, THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF PUBERTY!!!

Tom O'Leary wrote on 09/26/2007:

This movie is a wonderful surprise---a small gem, really. The photograph on the DVD and the title are actually misleading. The actor on the cover is not the lead, though he is good.

The standout performance in TAN LINES is the by the actor playing the main character. Jack Baxter is absolutely sensational as a smart and mouthy youth coming of age. He is attracted to other boys but also lets himself be distracted by females.

The Australian director of this movie has done a gorgeous job of creating a totally believable world of young slacker/surfers. This screenplay for TAN LINES is smart, funny, sexy, interesting and compelling.

Bravo to all involved, especially Jack Baxter!

jason onyx. wrote on 08/14/2007:

This is one of the hardest films to review.
It was priceless in it's accuracy of the mind set of the characters. The acting is spot on by all, specially Jack Baxter as Midget.
It is not really an overly plot driven film, but a realistic character study. To say that it is not good in that aspect is just wrong.
It is also wrong to compare it to other films just because of its country of origin. Its nothing like "Muriel's Wedding", as good as, but nothing similar really.
And to compare it to garbage like "Crazy Richard" is just sickening.
If you want a good movie that will shed some light into the minds of teens, that will not make you feel like you've lost brain cells in the process give this movie a chance..

John Frame wrote on 08/11/2007:

Tan Lines is a shockingly low quality film from whatever angle you might consider. There are simply no good points.

It should have been edited down to a maximum 15 minute short film - that's more than enough time to effectively capture every idea presented here.

I am amazed that one TLA reviewer mentions this piece of deritive drivel in the same paragraph as "Muriel's Wedding" (which is one of the best and most original films made anywhere in the world).

I have only witnessed one worse Australian film - and it too was gay themed ("Crazy Richard"). We should not be encouraging talentless film-makers by buying or viewing their crappy films. Otherwise we'll just be offered more of the same.

Tan Lines deserves exactly zero stars. It should get minus stars for dragging the reputation of queer cinema down.