Crusade hits the airwaves; 'Falcon Beach' is summer fun*
Tom DorseyThis is the time of year when magazines, radio and TV shows offer summer reading lists. They always include what are known as "beach books," light stuff to entertain you while you relax in the hammock if you can't make the sandy scene.
Not to be outdone, ABC Family greets the summer TV season with "Falcon Beach," a two-hour movie at 8 p.m. tomorrow that kicks off a series of the same name Mondays at 9.
There are no star names in the cast, which perhaps makes it a little more believable -- if any of this sort of thing ever is. Of course, that's just the point. It's supposed to be escapist fun.
"Falcon Beach" is set in a New England resort town, which is a favorite locale for summer movies. Remember "Jaws"? The only sharks in this tale are the humans who devour their lovers. The soap and surf melodrama is done on two levels to appeal to two generations: parents and teenagers.
Ginny is one of the moms returning to the place where she spent her summer teen years, with her daughter Paige very reluctantly in tow, while Dad sweats out a failing business in the city. Put Paige down as a stuck-up brat.
Jason is the blond teenage hunk who would rather be surfing than helping his mom run the local marina, but peg him as the nice guy. He'll be caught between two loves. One is a flickering flame from his past who comes back to town; the other is Paige, after they get through insulting each other.
The teenagers even have a town water tower just like in "That '70s Show." The series focuses most of its time on the young and restless set but manages to toss a few tidbits to the older set, which is trying to keep marriages together and kids out of trouble.
"Falcon Beach" is junky and predictable, but the cast is attractive and the story is entertaining if not enlightening or great literature. But, then again, who wants to drag Shakespeare to the beach?
*From courier-journal.com – June 3rd, 2006
