Indian Summer

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Indian Summer

PG-13

1993

1h 38m

Comedy

Drama

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Popcornmeter

60%

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20 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

5,000+ Ratings

Unca Lou (Alan Arkin), the longtime director of an Ontario summer camp, brings a group of former campers back for a 20-year reunion. But now, they're all facing very adult problems. Beth (Diane Lane) is still recovering from her husband's passing. Jennifer (Elizabeth Perkins) longs for her lost love, Matthew (Vincent Spano), who is less than happy with his wife, Kelly (Julie Warner). But Unca Lou hopes to guide them all through their pain, just as he helped them with their childhood trials.

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Emanuel Levy

Variety

12/18/2006

C

Mike Binder places his well-acted comedy in the familiar turf of other "reunion" films (Return of Secaucus Seven, Big Chill), adding one element to the genre: Instead of indoor weekend, the regrouping is set in a beloved camp of the 1972 summer

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Nell Minow

Movie Mom

03/19/2004

4/5

Big Chill-ish camp reunion movie with some lovely performances.

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

05/20/2003

2/5

If you like to go to weddings of humdrum people you don't know, you won't want to miss Indian Summer.

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Barbara Shulgasser

Common Sense Media

Jul 23

Indian Summer is corny and earnest and entertaining.

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Malcolm Johnson

Hartford Courant

06/06/2018

Even if one can accept this dubious premise, there's another problem. Mike Binder's tale of thirtysomething yuppies in beautiful Ontario sometimes moves at the speed of a particularly phlegmatic moose.

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Dorothy Woodend

The Tyee (British Columbia)

08/22/2017

As the characters drone on about affairs, broken hearts and lost dreams, you start to wish that someone would short-sheet their mouths.

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Alex G.

@alexthecritic May 12

Anchored by a stacked cast and effortless chemistry, this funny, warm, and deeply lived-in Touchstone gem will completely sneak up on you. It isn't flashy, but its quiet emotional weight and honest reflections on nostalgia make for a beautiful reminder that while you can't go back to the past, it's wonderful to visit.

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CHRIS M

@ChrisMoore Aug 9

A few scenes drag but all and all a very good, easy to watch, enjoyable movie with a happy ending. Oh, so lovely then 28 y/o Diane Lane. Now 40 plus years on, it makes me nostalgic for my own days in my early 30's when this movie came out in 1993. But I must say none of my gal pals back matched Diane's delicate beauty.

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Koi P

@hopep Jul 16

Relaxing summer movie. The premise is not believable, but the characters are worth watching.

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Horror fan 4

@Horrorfan4life Jul 7

Warm and fuzzy camp movie about friendship and relationships. A really good cast and direction. Tim Treakle

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studio f

@RT12204465 Jul 3

This was bad when originally released and it's incredibly bad now (2025). Alan Arkin's laudable performance is admirable, but Binder's material is just so cliched and unfunny, it's painful to watch the other actors muddle through it. It's impossible not to take some cheap shots at the hair, wardrobe, and stereotyped characterizations (whereas Diane Lane's effortless good looks, makes her the only actor who doesn't appear to be straight out of a 1985 J.C. Penny's catalog). Comparing this to "The Big Chill" is like comparing a New York strip steak to a BigMac (with extra cheese). Binder redeems himself with later works like "The Mind of a Married Man," but "Indian Summer" is easily among the most cringeworthy thirtysomething reunion films of the 20th century.

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Crescent Moon H

@RT35769733 10/16/2024

Such a feel good movie that has a great cast, and makes you miss your younger days of innocence and young summer love!

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Mike Binder

Director

Alan Arkin

Unca Lou Handler

Matt Craven

Jamie Ross

Diane Lane

Beth Warden

Bill Paxton

Jack Belston

Elizabeth Perkins

Jennifer Morton

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Synopsis

Unca Lou (Alan Arkin), the longtime director of an Ontario summer camp, brings a group of former campers back for a 20-year reunion. But now, they're all facing very adult problems. Beth (Diane Lane) is still recovering from her husband's passing. Jennifer (Elizabeth Perkins) longs for her lost love, Matthew (Vincent Spano), who is less than happy with his wife, Kelly (Julie Warner). But Unca Lou hopes to guide them all through their pain, just as he helped them with their childhood trials.

Director: Mike Binder
Producer: Lynn Kouf, Jim Kouf, Bobby Newmyer, Jeffrey Silver
Screenwriter: Mike Binder
Distributor: Buena Vista Pictures, Touchstone Pictures, BV International Pictures [no]
Production Co: Touchstone Pictures, Outlaw Productions
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Apr 23, 1993, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA): $14.7M
Runtime: 1h 38m
Sound Mix: Surround