Tan Lines *** (2005, Jack Baxter, Lorena Arancibia, Jed Clarke, Daniel O’Leary) – Classic Movie Review 13,456

Tan Lines (2005, Jack Baxter).

Jack Baxter stars as troubled teenage surfer Midget Hollow in writer/ director Ed Aldridge’s satisfyingly strange and sexy Australian coming-of-age romantic drama film Tan Lines.

Midget both enjoys and is troubled by his aimless life riding big waves and partying with his surfer-boy buddies. But then his best friend Dan (Jed Clarke)’s gay brother Cass (Daniel O’Leary) arrives on the scene after four years’ away and Midget is magnetised, quickly starting up a supposedly secret sexual relationship with him.

As Midget explores his sexuality, and pursues his lusty romance with Cass, their secret is soon out. So Midget has to try to navigate his friends’ reactions and the tricky path to his newfound love as Cass is quite a complex bunny, who has been having a thing with the geography teacher. And there’s a pushy, sex-starved girl hanging around too to complicate things,

Tan Lines succeeds on a combination of its strangeness, taking oddness and the quirky into the genuinely weird, and on the cute, natural, appealing performance of its star Jack Baxter. He catches the character’s mux of shyness and gung-ho-ness perfectly. One moment Midget is one thing, the next another. He’s caught between boyhood and manhood. Coming-of-age isn’t going to be easy. Is Midget even gay at all? Probably he just needs someone to love.

Ed Aldridge’s script is amusing and enlightening, well observed and strongly characterised, with some very good lines of dialogue and funny scenes, oh and sexy ones too. Exploring the darker side of Australia’s sun-drenched beaches, it is a little bit of an eye opener and wake-up call for complacent teens and prejudiced or stupid adults.

Director: Ed Aldridge