Gabriel Labelle came on the Hollywood scene with a pretty hot film and director combination. Those were the Fabelmans two years ago, co-written/directed by Steven Spielberg.  The Fabelmans was an autobiographical film about Spielberg’s upbringing. Once again, Labelle is in an autobiographical film as he stars in Snack Shack about the younger years of writer/director Adam Carter Rehmeier. This was a fun coming-of-age film with a lot of heart.

AJ and Moose (Conor Sherry, Gabriel Labelle) are best friends who are somewhat young entrepreneurs.  They have various schemes that help them make a lot of money, including brewing their own beer. When they get caught, leaving a field trip to gamble at a horse track, all their entrepreneurial ways are over. Sherry’s character’s parents grounded him. Not taking his friends’ grounding lying down, Labelle’s character finds out about a Snack Shack at the local community pool that is vacant. They are back in business and hope to have a fantastic summer at the pool.

As coming-of-age films tend to do this, one has a romantic twist in it that threatens to break up this beautiful friendship. An older girl who returns for the summer and also lives next door to Sherry’s character Brooke (Mika Abdalla) is a bit of a sex pot. She picks on him but eventually comes around, and they become friends unbeknownst to Labelle’s character.  She eventually gets a job at the pool as a lifeguard, and this puts the boy’s friendship under constant scrutiny as she is always around. Little does Labelle’s character know that Sherry’s character is infatuated with the beautiful lifeguard.

I got a laugh out of this coming-of-age film a few times because of these two young guys. I wasn’t thinking of making money when I was 14/15 years old. I was just thinking of reading and watching sports and television shows. I spent most of my time hanging out with my twin brother David. These guys are quite impressive in their business acumen.  I know this is an autobiographical story, but I’m still surprised this is the kind of thing kids got up to in the early 90s. It’s fun to watch these guys, though, because sometimes they fight as well. You never know what’s going to set one or the other off.

A young actress who is relatively new to the acting game, Mika Abdalla has a few credits to her name, but her “Sex Appeal” is off the chain. She is a bit of a flirt and sets these two young impressionable boys against each other. She is quite pretty and fills out a bikini beautifully. Any straight-laced boy with a libido who is clamoring for a chance to be with or around such a seductress as this girl. The problem is does bros before hoes apply here? That is the big question at hand. I feel it does.

The writer/director Adam Rehmier assembled a nice supporting cast for this film. He has Nick Robinson who is also in Damsel out right now on Netflix, and Gillian Vigman and David Costabile as Sherry’s character’s parents.  They are a bit strict on the boy but Robinsons character who is a returning soldier helps him and his friend out. Combined with Abdalla this is a good supporting cast to complement the two leading boys. 

Snack Shack is a fun period piece set in the early 90s. The story of these two young guys who have a wild and spirited lifestyle for their age. The summer and pool setting as well as the pretty next-door neighbor/lifeguard combine for a pretty good little film. This is the type of story I think a lot of young men and girls looking for something to watch might gravitate toward. I enjoyed the performances and the lighthearted nature of the story. This may have better been placed in the summer though where it could have possibly had a better audience. It’s a good watch though.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen