This summer, I’m spending a lot of time on a movie set, hanging out with cool people. This reminded me of my favorite genre of crime movie, which is where a bunch of friends hang out. Is this a real genre? Yes, I say so!
So, here are some lists about friends chilling in the sunshine, after which absolutely no dangerous things happen at all. Not even a little bit. Just kidding. This is a crime website.
Pop some popcorn, invite your friends over, and put on one of these:
Thelma and Louise (1991)
I don’t think the plot of Thelma and Louise will be unfamiliar to anyone who has ever read this website, but just in case: Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis are best friends who go on a road trip, and while they do, Susan Sarandon shoots Geena Davis’s would-be-rapist (played by my aunt’s friend’s brother) and the two go on the run. Maybe it’s that Y2K fashion has made a huge comeback in this year 2021, but their outfits have not felt more relevant SINCE the film came out. High-waisted, straight-leg, stone-wash jeans will, I suppose, never go out of style.
Heavenly Creatures (1994)
Ultimately, what is this movie about if not “friends hanging out?” Ahem.
Rear Window (1954)
Rear Window is also about the fun of watching TV with your friends on a hot summer day. Jimmy Stewart, Grace Kelly, and Thelma Ritter all become addicted to the same program. It’s just real life.
Weekend at Bernie’s (1989)
I put Weekend at Bernie‘s on every list I can in this website. It’s got it all!
Point Break (1991)
Point Break is a movie about making friends and wishing you hadn’t, because you have to arrest them! In the summer! Deftly directed by Kathryn Bigelow, this is the timeless story about FBI agent Johnny Utah (Keanu Reeves) who goes undercover with a gang of surfers led by Bodhi (Patrick Swayze)—surfers whom are believed to be the masterminds behind a string of flawless bank robberies. But as he spends more time with them—catching waves, jumping out of planes—he forms a deep connection with Bodhi. Loyalties are tested! Bonds will break! Critically under-appreciated during its time, it has since gained cult status thanks in part to the Keanu stans out there doing the Lord’s work.
Stand By Me (1986)
Grab some pez and bring your friends. We’re going to go find a dead body in the woods.
To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995)
Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes, and John Leguizamo are three drag queens who head to Los Angeles from New York on a road trip to compete in the Miss Drag Queen of America Pageant! It’s on the list because when Vida (Patrick Swayze) is assaulted by a racist cop who pulls them over, and fights back, she believes she’s killed him! It counts, whatever, this movie is delightful.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Half of the requirements for this list are acknowledged in the title! Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe are sort-of friends who wind up being chased by a masked killer holding a giant fishhook.
The In-Laws (1979)
The In-Laws is one of the funniest movies ever made. Don’t watch the remake. Peter Falk and Alan Arkin play two polar-opposite dads whose kids are about to get married. Arkin is a dentist, Falk is a businessman who really seems to be a bank robber of sorts. And they wind up on a cross-continental journey together, just days before the wedding. Watch it. It’s incredible.
Midnight Run (1988)
Is Midnight Run, the 1988 buddy-crime-comedy Midnight Run starring Charles Grodin as a do-gooding embezzler and mob accountant captured and dragged across the country by bounty hunter Robert DeNiro, set during the summer? Probably. It’s close enough. This list would be meaningless without Midnight Run, okay?
Deliverance (1972)
Look, I’m not wrong.
