User reviews

I miss when comedies weren't afraid of offending anyone. I miss when comedies didn't try to teach me a lesson. I miss when comedies accurately showed how guys act and talk around each other.

I forgot how much I missed them until I watched Snack Shack. Now while this can be described as a 90s throwback comedy, it does a great job of celebrating bro culture without celebrating some of the creepy stuff from 80s/90s comedies, like peeping on women.

Having said that, some of the vulgar language and jokes had me cracking up. It reminds me of so many conversations I've had with my friends. The situations and movie overall are pretty hilarious, with a few highly memorable parts.

Lead actor Conor Sherry kills it. He does a great job with the comedy, with the perfect balance of being a dork without being a wuss. And there are a few serious moments where his performance made me say, "Wow." I think we'll be seeing more of him.

A couple things hold this back from being an instant comedy classic. Later in the movie, it focuses less on comedy and more on drama, both romantic and non. Most of it is done well, but there are very few laughs in the last half hour. And some of the romance drama feels manufactured, forced and unnecessary.

I still had a good time with this movie and encourage people to support R-rated comedies. We don't get nearly enough of them.

(1 viewing, early fan screening 3/6/2024)

Genuine, heartfelt, funny and a true representation of youth. I wish more films were like this. Makes you nostalgic for a time you never lived

...Is all I wanted to say but that's not enough for IMDB. A stellar performance from the entire cast. Kind of forgot I was watching a movie. The dialogue is on point and yes, for those of a wary heart, there's a lot of cussing but unsurprisingly that's how kids speak

This movie could so easily have been produced with all the gloss of Hollywood, fraught with drama, dumbed down, high-stakes, PG-rated just for the money but it remains true to so many people's lived experiences. It's a movie not afraid of showing the rough edges of both comedy and drama

I wish film makers would dare to write and produce movies like this. It would certainly bring me back to the cinema, because movies like this one should be enjoyed on the big screen.

The first act of this film set it up to be this obnoxious buddy comedy about two scheming capitalists, but the story morphs into a brilliant portrayal of growing up over a summer.

The movie is not as funny as it would like to be at certain points, but that doesn't matter. The strength of the script is in the delivery and the characterization of the two leads and family life.

The conflict can seem a bit silly at first, but then you get it when you realize what life was like at 14. Everything matters until nothing does, and then you fall apart. These actors are admirable, and I respect the fact that they actually look like teenagers.

The script has more f-bombs than Scarface, and it gets loud and obnoxious, and that's what growing up is like. Cannot wait to see more from this director.

This the second movie this year that pleasantly surprised me by how good it is despite lacking any hype. The first was "Scrambled," which, while not groundbreaking, I found pretty enjoyable. Snack Shack is the latest one; I recall sitting in the nearly empty theater, thinking it deserved a larger audience than just 2 guys. I have a feeling that years from now, these films will be regarded as some of the hidden gems from the 2020s. We'll wonder why they weren't more widely discussed at the time.

Pretty chaotic start, I think hectic's a better word. The movie's premise pretty fun, two 14yr olds trying successfully come up with successful get-rich-quick schemes. It's not like a lot of movies made recently; the first half of the movie reminds me of the early 2010's when a bunch of R rated movies were being made.

But it's also not just silly fun; it's a compelling coming-of-age story. While it starts off as a fun ride, the emotional depth it offers is unexpected yet satisfying. Gabriel LaBelle reminded me of Jon berthal at times. The acting overall was impressive, and I loved the casting. Although we didn't see much of the other kids' parents, it allowed us to forge stronger connections with the characters present. Overall, the characters are easy to become invested in.

The movie slows down a bit in the middle, wasn't feel good all the way. In hindsight, scenes like A. J. walking alone earlier in the film seem like subtle hints of what was to come. Given that the story is from AJ's perspective, it's understandable that it doesn't maintain a consistently upbeat atmosphere throughout because it's not super fun vibes from him.

The movie takes on a somber tone at times, which is when I began to notice its length. While the start was quick-paced, funny and full of energy, the film gradually evolves into a personal and heartfelt coming-of-age story. The second half leans more towards drama, resulting in a slower pace, but I didn't mind it. Instead, it added depth and emotional complexity, creating a little rollercoaster of emotion.

The movie is predictable In away, particularly potential romantic conflicts with new characters. However, this predictability didn't detract from the overall enjoyment of the film for me. While it doesn't revolutionize storytelling, its nostalgic depiction of a bygone era reminded me of "Licorice Pizza". And just like that movie, which I loved despite differing opinions from others, this film effectively transported me to its time period. Unlike "Licorice Pizza," though, this movie isn't as solely character-driven; there's a clear plotline driving the narrative forward.

I feel like the message of the movie is don't let girls get between you and your boy. I laughed cause it reminded me of a 30second clip of Tupac interview about "hoes get horny" you can find on YouTube.

Anyway, I enjoyed it, felt nostalgic. It wasn't what I expected, I saw the trailer play once maybe a month ago and all things would lead you to believe it's a comedy. However, it has a more serious undertone and more emotional depth than you'd expect. So I love it and definitely recommend, just not as a comedy.

During 1991 in Nebraska, two friends makes money by running a snack shop with their own beer recipe along side the swimming pool during their summer holidays. Love comes in another form which really tests their relationship!!

Really loved the way this film was narrated. The director/Writer took a simple story but in the screenplay, he has really structured it well. Didn't get bored at any place. The core emotion of this film was "friendship". The writer test this relationship with love, jealousy betrayal and loss.

For a drama film like this, mainly the lead actors have to deliver their performances in such a way as to captivate the audience within the film. And yes, this film has such a crew!!. The actors who played the role of AJ and Moose have given excellent performances. They have really lived in their characters which made it even more compelling for the audience to stick to this film.

The background music was very nice. It was interesting from the first scene. But it fades a bit towards the end.

Cinematography was excellent. The scenes were interestingly shot. The work of the cinematographer is truly amazing.

Undoubtedly a good film.

Set in Nebraska City, Nebraska 1991, teenagers A. J. Carter (Conor Sherry) and his scheming friend Moose Miller (Gabriel LaBelle) try their hand at various get rich quick schemes from placing bets at off track betting parlors to brewing their own beer to sell to other high schoolers. After their parents put a stop to their questionable activities the two empty their savings accounts in order to place an exorbitant bid on the snack shack at the community pool as A. J. now has to pay back the money to avoid being sent to military school. Over the course of the summer A. J. experiences romance, tragedy, and struggle.

Snack Shack is the sophomore mainstream directorial effort of Adam Carter Rehmeier following his 2020 film Dinner in America. The film is a semi-autobiographical film with Rehmeier having based significant parts of the film off his own experience manning a pool shack in his youth. While I found the film to be an acquired tasted due to its purposefully abrasive characters, there is an unmistakable air of authenticity to the film that once I emersed myself in did win me over.

Being set at the start of the 90s, Snack Shack has an air of similar films from the decade that preceded (Fast Times at Ridgemont High and the like) or even more modern ones such as Adventureland. Both Conor Sherry and Gabriel LaBelle give strong performances and have good chemistry as A. J. and Moose, and while their introduction doesn't initially present them as the most likable of characters it does feel true to form in that phase of brash overconfidence that adolescent boys often go through as they approach adulthood. Despite having a heavy focus on shenanigans and risky behavior the movie does also showcase the humanizing aspects of the characters particularly regarding the major milestones of first loves or an untimely tragedy that carry strong weight.

While I didn't enjoy Snack Shack as much as some similar films in this genre (such as The Way Way Back or Adventureland) I did appreciate the film for its authentic presentation that captured not only the look of its time and place but also the feel. The characters are flawed but human and there's a strong core to the movie once you get to know it beyond its slightly abrasive surface.

So when i saw the trailer of this movie i was like "WOOOAAA they dared?" Like really this movie follow well the style of the 90s. For instance the characters are portrayed as smokers and even tough i was born 85 and only made it to teen in the late 90s i do recall a lot of teenagers smoking. So this felt accurate and they were not afraid to show that yes teenagers smoked then. Never in the movie is it portrayed as "cool" or something you "have to do" and as a non smoker i never understood the point of cigarette at all, but im glad the movie kept the accuracy and was not afraid of showing it off. We should not erase history.

As for the rest, some of it was a bit over the top, like sure the 90s were more lenient, i do recall buying loto tickets for my mom at the store when i was like 10 (now its 18+) so i guess betting is also accurate but the whole making beer and such... these kids were very efficient to say the least. A lot more then i recall my friends and i ever been.

Ok ok enough of speaking if the movie is accurate or not, i think it was. It did a good job capturing the 90s.

I had a lot of fun with the romance aspect and the bro rivalry and such. Sadly in the second half the movie got a bit darker and its where it kinda loss me. Its just it happened out of nowhere and somehow shifted the dymanic of the movie.

I personally watched this as a "raunchy comedy" and was looking for a lot of "feel good". I miss these movies since the stupid woke era took on, so this look right like in my alley and for the most part it was, but then the movie decided to become more of a drama than a raunchy comedy and it just kinda came out of nowhere so it felt a bit "meh".

Without spoiling i could say the movie just dropped the ball in the last act for me and i didn't like its conclusion.

But overall i enjoyed the majority of it so i can't really say i didn't had a good time. Maybe that was the point of the director/screen writer, to make us feel uncomfortable but its not what i was looking for based on the trailer. So if the movie would had gotten an 8 out of 10 prior to this specific part, i have to lower it to a 7. And its one of those were i would even go down to 6.5 but i bump it to 7 because i feel its better than a 6.

But i was disapointed at the end to say the least. I like when movies are feel good. I like when movies give me the escapism of my boring real life. This being set in the 90s and all, even tough characters were a tad older (for today) compare to me, i was still looking for an ideal version of my teenhood. A teenhood i sadly never had.

I knew very little about this movie before sitting down to watch it, I saw a trailer a while back and made a mental note to check it out. I. So happy I decided to watch it. You can't help but enjoy the performances of the two leads, it's easy to believe that they are best friends by the camaraderie they share. Excellent job by the actors - I didn't know either of them, but can't wait to see what they do next. Their bond is the backbone of the story - along with a great per by a young lady (also unknown to me) - combined, these actors take you back to the 1990s, and revisit a slightly more innocent time. There is a lot of fun with period references, but if you don't know them you still enjoy the ride.

There is a bit a formula in the script, but really, it just plain works. I was not the only person in the audience who was laughing out loud many, many times, and then wiping aside tears at extremely moving final scenes. This movie is one that is worthy of your time - don't miss it.

Just finished watching "Snack Shack," and my initial reaction? Well, it's over. Not much to write home about, but let's break it down.

Starting with the positives, Connor Sherry's acting as the main character stood out. He brought a certain charm to the role that made the viewing experience somewhat enjoyable. As for the rest of the cast, they were okay-ish. A few jokes landed for some giggles, but nothing particularly memorable.

Now, onto the negatives. The age of the characters as told in the movie just didn't match up. They certainly didn't look like 14-year-olds, and neither did the girl portrayed in the film look like a teenager. This lack of believability hindered the emotional connection with the characters; I found it hard to feel empathy or sympathy for anyone. The character development was very less so it was hard for me to feel emotional for any of them. The storyline is pretty straightforward and doesn't offer anything particularly new or innovative. It follows a formula we've seen many times before.

The length of the movie was okay for me, although I think it could have been trimmed down to around 1 hour and 40 minutes. A shorter runtime might have made for a tighter, more engaging story.

So, my overall review? I'd give "Snack Shack" a 7 out of 10. It's a one-time watch that can provide decent time-pass entertainment. It's slightly above average, hence the 7 rating.

Don't get me wrong it's not a bad movie by any means it's just not a movie that you will remember for a long time.. It did a good job as a One time watch so yeah I can definitely recommend it to watch it for some decent timepass.

The Snack Shack like a modern Sandlot.

This movie is about two best friends and their schemes and shenanigans over a summer in Nebraska in 1991. One friend is the schemer who always has an idea and a plan for what to do next, and the other friend is the more level headed but very ambitious go getter. Together they execute these risky plans that might get them into trouble with their parents but venture to make money and have fun over the summer.

At it's core it might sound generic and formulaic for a coming of age movie but it shines due to the amount of heart and soul poured into it.

The acting is expertly done. The script allows for campy, comedy, and realism to flow through the characters. The jokes land and the physical comedy is well timed.

The movie is also able to juggle varying tone quite well and keeps the overall pacing solid One con I will say is that I don't know what the overall theme of the movie was supposed to be, or if there was supposed to be one.

Nevertheless the Snack Shack is a very heartfelt coming of age comedy that clearly had a lot of hard work and heart put into it.

I decided to watch this film as it is categorized as a comedy on IMDB and had piqued my interest due to its high rating and positive reviews. Upon viewing the cover image and reading some of these reviews, I expected "Snack Shack" to resemble films like "Superbad" and "American Pie." However, I was pleasantly surprised to find it quite distinct.

While it is tagged as a comedy, and indeed has its humorous moments, "Snack Shack" leans more towards a blend of comedy, coming-of-age, and '90s teen drama. It's hard to pin down its exact niche, but overall, it's a wonderful little gem of a film. It's refreshing to see a movie that doesn't push a political agenda or engage in virtue signaling, focusing instead on a lighthearted, quintessentially '90s story about two teenage boys trying to earn some money and win over a girl.

The other reviewer has a phenomenal description so I'll just put some other thoughts. I was blessed to see an early screening a few hours ago, I had to bike home after a long day that was satisfying and ironically there was bikes in multiple scenes. I absolutely love the leads especially Gabriel Labelle known previously from Fabelmans by Stephen Spielberg so no wonder he's shining with great talent in this fun comedy/romance/drama! Snack Shack has a wonderful classic vibe, great business ethics packed in, buddy vibes, partying, charming romance, and just great entertainment throughout that I hope when it's out gets appreciated.

A coming-of-age comedy of two inseparable teenager who desperately want to make something out of their summer vacation of '91.

A. J. And Moose, are two best friends and like every other teen movie, not popular in school. In order to avoid some boring job that their parents would impose on them during summer vacation, they rent out a shack in the community swimming pool which quickly becomes the hot spot among the locals.

Filled with great moments, this 110 mins. Heartfelt drama is a fun ride that has adventure, comedy, romance and brotherhood.

The chemistry between A. J. & Moose is too good that has to go through the test of time by the arrival of Brooke, A. J.'s hot neighbor who's also working in the pool as a lifeguard.

A perfect watch for upcoming summer.

Not horrible but the dialogue and characters are a bit all over the place. Teenagers didn't talk and act like that in 1991. The two main characters deliver dialogue like they have no time to breathe. To me the teenagers seemed to be modern teenagers just pretending to be in the 1990's and kind of trying to wear 90's clothes. Kids in 1991 were into video games and playing sport like basketball, neither of which happen in this film. Where's the slap bands, cabbage patch dolls, roller blades, skateboards, Nintendo, Sega, video arcades, multiplex cinemas, model cars, fast food etc? These things were popular for 14 year olds in 1991. There's more 1990's culture in Terminator 2 than in this film. The early 1990's were much grungier. RayBans weren't 1991, Oakleys were early 1990's sunglasses in the US. The story is kind of ok I suppose but this film is no Napoleon Dynamite. This film needed less dialogue and more time to breathe. More actual acting, smart jokes and character development would have helped.

I like that people think this is an irreverent comedy since it involves "teens" (but not really) and "teens" swearing, underage smoking, underage drinking and that's what makes it "irreverent". LOL...

You've seen this movie 100x before, nothing new is said, nothing new is done, was it good? Kind of. Was ALMOST realistically written, though noticed the writer who wasn't afraid of an "f" bomb here or there, was afraid to use another set of "f" words (think sticks and their bundles) that back in the 90s was being tossed around in school like the word "the". I grew up in the 90s, so I do know.

The issue is, due to its predictable nature, you end up waiting to hit those beats. It's well acted, the actors look kind of their age, Moose does not, the other kid and the girl does. And the writing for the most part is predictable, yet believable, save for the exclusion of three words that the bullies and the two boys would be calling each other when they were showing emotion.

I don't love it, don't hate it, has a lot of fat that could be trimmed, and if this were trimmed down to say... 90ish minutes it wouldn't lose any context or weight, also totally called the last scene. That's how safe and predictable this is, edgy language, underage drinking, underage smoking, and sexy times, doesn't make you not safe. Just makes you an "R" rated movie. It started out strong, real strong, and then petered out 20 minutes in, slowly crawling to the next checklist item: "Schemer kids, one with a rainman like ability?" CHECK. "Friends falling out over the same girl?" CHECK. "Boy and Girl break up since boy confuses girl's brother for college kid she's now seeing on the rebound?" CHECK. "BFF huge blow out that gets in the way of their hustle?" CHECK. "Manufactured Tragedy event to bring everyone back together?" CHECK. "Dad hands son a beer at the end to signify dad seeing his son as a matured person ready to drink, even though he's the judge?" CHECK. "Close on the boys together, throwing the last of their stock of Snack Shack Snacks to a throng of pool goers as summer winds down?" CHECK. It's all here and tedious.

Ah the 90's & a scheme to make money running your own business is the basis for this follow-up feature from writer/director Adam Rehmeier (Dinner in America) from earlier this year. A pair of friends, Conor Sherry & Gabriel LaBelle, who already have a knack to make some scratch on the side hear about a pool shack the city is putting up for bids from potential vendors. Maxing out their savings for a hefty bid, the pair win the shack (even though they've been bamboozled by the city denizens to pay more than they had to) & partnering w/a close friend, played by Nick Robinson, who'll be the lifeguard there, the summer is on. Money is made hand over fist but when a comely cousin of the next-door neighbor, Mika Abdalla, gets hired by Robinson as an assistant both boys let their emotions (& maybe their loins) get the best of them. When the excessive profanity strewn dialogue didn't make me cringe, the film worked like gangbusters, w/Rehmeier's talent shining through during the quiet moments while getting vivid perfs from his leads so if he can quell his habit overstating the obvious, he's got the goods for a great future. Also starring David Constabile & Gillian Vigman (from The Holdovers) as Sherry's parents.

Another hit from the energetic Adam Rehmeier! Loved it's fierce humor and spot-on look into the 90s.

The screen presence here is incredible. If you loved Gabriel Labelle in The Fablemans, you're surely going to fall in love with his energy in Snack Shack.

Haven't seen Conor Sherry in anything, but this was such a great first impression of his talent. The friendship and businesses between these two boys was so thrilling to watch.

I absolutely loved Adam's previous film Dinner In America, and this did not disappoint one bit.

I really hope that everyone gives this a film in chance. If it's in theaters near you, go see it!!! Support these kinds of films so we can get more films of this level.

Snack Shack, I really liked this and it's longer than normal for this genre runtime flew by. Having seen the directors previous movie Dinner in America I knew I was in for some fast paced, vulgar, action with the right amount of heart and care as a foundation. This delivered that.

The synergy between the two leads is infectious, and what made the movie so much fun to watch. The way they talk, but also the way it was directed and edit, that quick punches, the tackles into the next shot, with quick cuts. It's such a dynamic movie, something already being worked on in Dinner in America. This ups that even more. And the language too, which makes the family scenes that much better knowing the style of writing. It's a consistently funny show too. It has it's typical dip towards the end, which I thought was okay. And the emotional crash was a perfect remedy and much needed dip for us viewers to wrap it up and get the full package.

So acting was great, without a good synergy this would've never have worked as well. Everyone is good here.

Story, I love the premise, just starting a business basically and all the risks and uncertainties. The fun and excitement of succes, the whole shebang. Obviously though it's written to be very fast paced and details get a bit muddled.

The romantic part of the story.. something that needs more work. If anything felt like a fantasy movie it was the girl. Honestly a more realistic scenario would be that both dudes imagined her. She literally threw herself at them and to a point almost stalked them. Imo, it made the intentionally coming of age part a bit worthless, as it contained very little essence of the truth. It was sweet, but that's it. The movie truly shined with just the 2 guys.

Still, a really great movie and I can't wait for more from the director.

For some reason, I was skeptical about the movie's claims of being a throwback of the early 90s, but I have to admit that skepticism walked out the door real quick from the very beginning of the movie. I'm guessing this is what Nebraska was like in 1991 but I can tell you 1991 was like this for a lot of teens at that time. On top of that despite how the tone in comedy lends itself well to that late 80s and early 90s teen genre that flourished at the time, the coming-of-age story was timeless.

Snack Shack is a well-done movie. Charming in its nostalgia and warming in its character development. Everything was so alive and it made for a great movie to watch.

This was a worthwhile watch.

It's not really that much of a comedy, but there are light-hearted scenes. It's far more "coming of age" and romance in general. But not sappy romance, coming of age romance. Kind of a light drama overall without any long drawn-out emotional scenes.

Good couple or "date" movie. I'd watch again without any problem.

That all being written.... I did feel the film relied a bit too heavily on music montages. The problem when using music montages is that if one finds the music unpleasant, then the scene may be unpleasant. It's a fine line to walk. And when you walk that line every 10 minutes or so, well, the chance to falter is more prevalent.

Lots of foul language and "teenage" romance - the primary characters are 14-16 years old. No nudity. Underage drinking and a slight bit of marijuana use. Some violence in terms of teenage rivalries and fist fights, but no real blood or gore. Decently targeted for a PG13 audience.

My biggest, most glaringly obvious problem with this film is the fact that we are supposed to believe these kids are 14 years old. These guys are old enough to be college graduates. Why? Even if they said they were 17 or something it really wouldn't change the plot of the movie too much. Really hard to watch when they tell me these grown ass men are children.

I watched this movie because I wanted to see something in theaters and there weren't many options, and this had good reviews. In my research however, I failed to notice that at the time there were only 9 user reviews on IMDb which is not a large enough sample to really get a good idea of how a movie is.

The laughs in this movie were few and far between. The morals were off base albeit probably being closer to how people tend to treat each other in reality. There's a big plot twist near the end of the movie that's just supposed to fix everything and it really just felt like lazy writing.

Not a movie I'll be watching again or recommending to others.

Snack Shack offers a refreshing departure from the typical blockbuster movie. This movie took me back (way back) to my younger days. And yes, there was drinking, cussing, and even a fist fight, or two. So if you're uncomfortable with hearing kids drop the f-bomb, and other realities of life, you may want to skip this one.

Central to the film's success are solid performances delivered by the two main characters. There was great chemistry between the two young actors. Keeping my attention these days without the occasional explosion or CGI effect isn't an easy feat, but kudos to the entire cast for doing just that.