MovieChat Forums > The Lifeguard (2013) Discussion > This movie made me sick to my stomach

This movie made me sick to my stomach

posted 11 years ago by rac2873
14 replies | jump to latest

Kristen Bell's Character is having some sort of crisis so she goes and screws a 16 year old boy. Grow Up! What a despicable character.

But what takes the cake is the male friend who hits on the boy who is looking for some adult guidance and then tells him his is pretty. So what if the kid was going to say yes the older man would have slept with that boy. Wow!!

Then he goes and hangs himself because as he sees it the world is an evil place and all adults want to do is capitalize on youth.

This movie has so much wrong with it.

I am surprised K Bell signed up for this crap.

[–] queenoftheuniverse1 11 years ago

I doubt he hanged himself because

he sees it the world is an evil place and all adults want to do is capitalize on youth

He was a troubled young man whose brother had died and he felt his mother could no longer see him due to the shadow of his brother's death hanging over them. There was a lot going on that was making him messed up enough to commit suicide and I don't believe that one incident made him think "all adults want to do is capitalize on youth".

[–] bparadox23 11 years ago

I think you may be confused about what makes a great film. A great film touches on true subject matter, real and gritty. It evokes a strong response(good or bad). I too was so uncomfortable that I had to take a break. The subject matter was just so intense. It made me sick to my stomach. This film may not be on my top ten to watch on girls' night but it will haunt me in the future. It is the kind of film that is so real it stays with you. Those are the reasons an actor signs on to a film that may make you uncomfortable, because they are thought provoking and haunting. Those are the films that win awards and that actors are proud to be apart of. It isn't all about fun, feel good flicks-it is an art.

We live, we die, and the wheels on the bus go round and round.

[–] fhnunez 11 years ago

I agree that many of the themes in the movie are hard to take. We are all flawed humans beings and we are bound to blunder in every way possible to find out some kind of truth for ourselves. I don't mind that so much as the uneven script and tone in the telling of this story. Though the film goes half way to put the lifeguard behavior in perspective at the end, when her friend call her on it and tell her to grow up, there are other behaviors that are left totally off the hook. The actions of the male friend, the one still in the closet, seducing that troubled kid were never questioned, for example. There is a great lack of empathy and understanding from all the adults toward this kid. In contrast, the actions of the female friend, the more harmless in the movie, are the most questioned and reflected upon, through her frequent fights with her husband. She is the only one able to break the illusion of a second adolescence and not only rectify her own actions but assume responsibility for her passive acceptance of her friend misbehavior. A bigger problem for me is the neat resolution that we get at the end of the movie. The lifeguard suddenly understand her mother, win a prize and is ready to join adulthood again. The male friend by moving to the city with his friend is somehow confronting the issue of his sexual orientation. Even little Jason is having a great time in Vermont as a high school drop out and minimum wage employee. All this feel too nicely wrapped. When you have grown people go through their quarter life crisis with so little care or concern for parents, husbands or minors is hard to care for them. Their behavior is pathetic and selfish and it doesn't deserve a happy ending.

[–] groovymike_16 11 years ago

I agree with you bparadox. I really liked the film. People are people. The characters may be flawed but that's a part of life. Why only make movies about characters who are perfect? That's not realistic. Things aren't black and white in life. I feel sorry for people who believe they are. You don't have to like the characters. I personally didn't hate them though even if they did do some bad things.

Anyway, the film was really interesting and Bell was great as usual.

---

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[–] Tracy3686 11 years ago

I mean....I am sure this stuff happens every day. It's creepy and gross and wrong. But it's real.

[–] whozisdude 10 years ago

Wow, maybe on planet Bizarro, but this definitely doesn't happen every day on planet Earth.

[–] Nanosecond 11 years ago

I agree. She's a narcissistic human being who writes pretentious blog pieces about animal cruelty and feels she's in a rut so she decides to go home...and become a lifeguard. Ok...whatever. Then she meets a 16 year old stoner skater burn out and in the spirit of nurturing her quarter-life crisis and return to adolescence she sparks up an inappropriate sexual relationship with him AND moves in with him. What??? It may be legal but her actions are still morally corrupt and selfish. I'm sure if the tables were turned women would be appalled to find Jake Gyllenhaal banging Chloe Grace Moretz to work out his issues under the same circumstances. I didn't care for her or root for her once throughout the entire film and couldn't wait for the torture to be over. What a pretentious POS this film was.

Keep the change ya filthy animal.

[–] timlin-4 11 years ago

Yeah, it would be so bad if it wasn't so earnest and emotional. Female directors pull this crap all the time, there ought to be a XX rating to limit the release to small lesbian theaters

[–] 11 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Littlefingered 11 years ago

Thanx for the spoiler, twat.

All desires are valid to a man with a full purse.

[–] whozisdude 10 years ago

I agree that the OP was out of line with the spoilers. Doesn't IMDB do any moderation any more? It looks like they were asleep at the switch big time.

[–] robitussin217 10 years ago

This is where people come to discuss content of the movies they've seen, bitch.

[–] wingedheartart 10 years ago

You know, it amazes me how many freak over a movie, where it wasn't real, but the fact that it DOES happen
in the real world and often and not in the situation of the movie, astonishes me.

My step dad coached baseball in a small town. One of the big time coaches for football at their MIDDLE SCHOOL had an affair while married to an ADULT woman, with a girl that was 15. He got her pregnant, left his wife and married this teen girl. Guess what ? He was around 35 AND because at the time, there were no shared problems from school district to school district, he had done this before, but just not married the girls and yes, there were more babies.

I know a man, whose father decided it was time for him to learn about sex....he was 13. His dad drove him to a hotel where the dad had hired a hooker to teach him the ropes. The woman was over 30. That was his first sexual experience.

I went to high school with a girl whose mother was completely nuts, what would be called a hoarder these days. She had no father figure and was pretty much on her own. Her boyfriends were almost always over 25 and at one point she went out with a guy who had obscene phone called her apartment, because they got to talking and he seemed nice.
That was not a good thing at all!!! I am amazed she wasn't killed.

Yes, there are horrible things happening to teens and children. And there are teens that are WAY too grown up and have had to face some seriously terrible things in their lives.

So, really, getting that upset about a movie seems like the horror/terror/anger is misplaced. If you truly are disgusted, then do something about helping the real kids that have been kidnapped for sex trafficking, or volunteer to help homeless teens in your town, or at a shelter for battered women.

I've hated lots of movies...but they were movies. Not real.
So, I could actually decide to watch the movie or not.

The kids that truly need help are real and need folks to fight for them.

Just a suggestion.

[–] Blue_Afternoon 10 years ago

This movie made you sick to your stomach? You are REALLY going to struggle with life. I pity you.

Robin Hood Country....