Made in 1978 and set on the beaches of California between 1964 and 1974, John Milius’ autobioghraphical movie opens as a coming of age tale, with three board toting buddies hitting the seas at every opportunity and cutting loose with beer and girls between the waves. Then after a riotous trip across the border to Tijuana has established their characters, Milius segues into a semi-melancholy meditation on the gradual congealing of the American dream, as brushes with Vietnam, adulthood and existential angst sour the endless summer of the protagonists.