1978's "Almost Summer" represents a transition in teen-centric storytelling, moving past the beach party movies of the 1960s while inching toward a more sympathetic understanding of adolescent concerns, as found in features throughout the 1980s. It wants to be many things for many audiences, which ultimately prevents the endeavor from becoming something truly memorable. Director Martin Davidson ("The Lords of Flatbush," "Eddie and the Cruisers") has a large collection of characters to manage, and an eager cast to make magic for the cameras, but the writing is often stuck while trying to be silly and sincere, becoming a sluggish, melodramatic study of growing pains and relationship challenges, also delving into the bitter world of politics and all the treachery that includes. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com