Aubrey Miller (Britt Robertson) finds a despondent Dave Hodgman (Dylan O'Brien) in an alley behind a raging party. He pines for his friend Jane (Victoria Justice) who has gone off with another guy. They strike up a quick connection despite the fact that she already has a boyfriend.
Jonathan Kasdan (In the Land of Women) directs/writes this teen coming-of-age comedy. He's doing something slightly different from the standard teen flick while using many of its tropes. The movie opens with a pretty long conversation between the leads. It's awkward and strained. Sometimes Kasdan pulls out all the movie clichés from the 90s. It's all jammed in there. Both actors project that uncomfortable sincerity. Unfortunately she even says this is the cheesiest thing ever. I admit that I rolled my eyes, but for some reason, the sincere awkwardness grew on me. It's the kind of sincere awkward conversations we all had in high school and these are two very appealing young actors.
They're a likable couple. The movie just needs more jokes and funnier jokes. I laughed at two scenes. Aubrey's boyfriend is annoying but it pays off for one of those laughs. The dialog is just not sharp enough although Kasdan has some compelling unconventional turns. The scene where Jane backs away from Dave is nearly perfect. That little move speaks so much without saying a word. This movie is caught between two styles. It uses all of the teen comedy tropes like Simon and Big Corporation but it's not that type of teen comedy. It has some nice moves but it doesn't reach the poignant realism of a tougher indie. It's a combo mix that is interesting but doesn't always work.
The First Time
2012
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
The First Time
2012
Action / Comedy / Drama / Romance
Keywords: high schoolfirst lovevirginawkwardness
Plot summary
One night at a friend's house party, a somewhat confident Dave meets a cool and artistic girl named Aubrey. She helps him with his romantic feelings for Jane. They talk about Dave's feelings, and he believes he should tell Jane how he feels. They soon get interrupted by the cops showing up, but decide to walk home together. As the weekend begins, the new friends start to hang out, as well as discuss their relationship... And their virginity. Dave becomes more and more interested in Aubrey, and she reciprocates. Even though she is involved with Roni (her soon to be ex),she has trouble denying her true feelings for Dave. There is one problem, however, Dave is going off to college in another city. Aubrey still has one year left of high school. Will they be able to handle a long distance relationship? Is their love strong enough? Or will Dave chose Jane, the girl of his dreams instead.
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Not the same old teen flick
"First Time" actually first feature for scion of film royalty...
Lets move quickly over the fact that Jon Kasdan is the son of Lawrence Kasdan, top-tier Hollywood film royalty with a list of credits that any film geek could recite even if in a coma. So for his "first" film (see the pun in the title?) we have high expectations. This story of young love, while a little uneven, is unforgettable, mainly as a result of the chemistry between the actors. There is no substitution for chemistry. An excellent script by Jon (whose father first attracted attention mainly as a writer) helps, but at the end of the reel its the performances that matter. Britt Robertson has a strong future ahead, she pulls a page from the Rachel McAdams handbook, and actually seems to glow in some shots. The film works, and works brilliantly, whenever the two leads are in frame. Trivia: Kasdan changes Robertson's makeup after the "event" in the film to emphasize the change. It's a cheesy trick but with an actor like Robertson to work it, he pulls it off anyway.
probably the best teen movie i ve seen in this genre
The plot the actors the acting everything was fab... i just loved it from beginning to end.. the songs the tune used were the best part didn't realize that a movie experience can be so soothing until now :p i m going to recommend this to every person i know ;')