Snack Shack (2024)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Hoot Beer

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

It requires patience, and it covers familiar territory, but Adam Rehmeier's teen coming-of-age summer-job comedy Snack Shack eventually finds its way, thanks to its free-wheeling style and its grasp of time and place.

It's 1991 in Nebraska, and scheming teen pals A.J. (Conor Sherry) and Moose (Gabriel LaBelle) sneak off during a school field trip to gamble on dogs at the track, and plan to use their winnings in their homemade beer operation. Unfortunately, A.J.'s parents find out, and he is forced to get a regular summer job.

The friends learn of an empty snack shack next to a community swimming pool, and they decide to bid on it. Once it's theirs, they must run more schemes to raise money for supplies. The shack is a hit, and the money comes rolling in.

However, Brooke (Mika Abdalla), the pretty cousin of A.J.'s next-door neighbor, has landed her own summer job as a lifeguard at the pool. She seems to like A.J. and A.J. likes her back, but she begins dating Moose instead. This begins a rift in the boys' friendship, and things may never again be the same.

Snack Shack begins at full caffeinated force, with our two protagonists chattering at top speed, whooping and hollering at the thrill of winning money, and racing to get back to where they're supposed to be, all to the propulsive beat of a hammering music score. But when the boys are eating dinner and A.J.'s mother (Gillian Vigman) glances under the table and finds Moose's leg bouncing a mile a minute, the pace and cacophony begin to make sense.

It begins to find an interesting rhythm, capturing the chaos with an almost lackadaisical approach. Moments that might have been turning points in other movies — such as the boys finding a funny, profane way of charging 75 cents more per hot dog — pass by almost as an afterthought; things just occur in the moment.

The Shane character, an older-brother-type role model for A.J., adds another layer of tenderness. And 1991 Nebraska is used not to much as nostalgia, but rather as an effect, a way to look into the scene from outside.

Director Rehmeier, achieved a similar effect in his previous movie, the unsung gem Dinner in America, introducing us to misfit characters who initially rub us the wrong way; we judge unfairly, like a book by its cover, before being fully introduced to them and coming to love them. Snack Shack may take a while to catch on, but it could eventually join the club of the great summer vacation movies.