Dennis Christopher of "Breaking Away" fame delivers a solid, engaging performance as T.T., a gawky, disenchanted, fresh out of high school adolescent hick from Chicago who comes to the cool California beaches to find women, contentment and excitement by becoming actively involved in the allegedly thrilling surfing lifestyle. Unfortunately, T.T. only discovers that the anomie and dissatisfaction he's trying to avoid in life are an intrinsic, albeit often ignored and unspoken part of the actually nothing terribly stirring surfing lifestyle.

An appealingly off-beat seriocomic youthful rites of passage outing from -- and radical departure for -- American International Pictures, "California Dreaming" makes for a neat, incisive, slyly revisionist beach movie feature which refuses to mindlessly glorify the sport's empty hedonistic mentality; instead the film offers an illuminating expose of the drab, shallow, aimless workaday reality behind the great American myth of surfing while also tossing in some fine insights into love, growing up, responsibility, unfulfilled desires and unattainable, but still persistent dreams. Moreover, it's marvelously acted by a stand-out cast: the always delightful Seymour Cassel as Duke, the amiable, garrulous, aging volleyball playing beach bum bar owner who takes T.T. under his wing; the comely, golden-haired, very under-appreciated Glynnis O'Connor as Duke's somewhat snobby, but generally sweet daughter Corky, who wants T.T. to shuck surfing and dedicate himself to a more mature, useful occupation in life; Dorothy Tristan as Duke's still ardent and interested old flame Fay, the adorable Stacey ("Get Crazy," "Halloween III: Season of the Witch") Nelkin as vacuous, promiscuous beach bunny Marsha, and even a pre-"Charlie's Angels" Tanya Roberts as Stephanie, a stuck-up rich princess who can't get her unfaithful tube-blowing boyfriend to seriously commit to their relationship.

Directed with trademark acuity, facility and sensitivity by the ever observant and eternally underrated John ("Bang the Drum Slowly," "Weeds") Hancock, with a sound, absorbing, fairly intricate and highly accurate script by Ned Wynn (who also co-stars as shiftless surfer dude Earl),lovely, sunny cinematography by Bobby Byrne, and a fun, breezy soundtrack (the folk-rock group America sing a few nice, catchy songs),this shamefully neglected and radiant gem qualifies as a charming, leisurely placed, often wryly amusing, sometimes dreamily (and genuinely) erotic, quite honest and cogent exploration of boredom and restlessness that benefits substantially from its funny, delicate, warm-hearted handling of its endearing assortment of everyday oddball characters. An utterly winsome and well-done little sleeper.

After 30 years of never being able to watch this latter-day A.I.P. beach movie from the late '70s, I finally got to watch California Dreaming on Hulu as linked from fancast.com. It stars Dennis Christopher as T.T., a Chicagoan (of which I also am by birth) transferring to the West Coast as a young adult to honor his late brother's jazzy dreams playing music near the ocean by playing his records repeatedly. Also starring Seymour Cassel as the person he borders with and Glynnis O'Connor as his grown daughter, Corky. I hope I'm not spoiling anything when I say something develops between T.T. and Corky (though I'm putting the spoiler warning, just in case). Anyway, this was quite funny and touching for a movie that supposedly was meant to just provide plenty of T and A for any hormonally-charged teenage boys out there and believe me, there's quite a few of those type scenes though not always unclothed! One of the funniest scenes to me was when T.T. tells God that he can kill him after he lets him unhook Corky's bra! And that slow-motion movie theatre lobby scene was so hysterical to me! Okay, I think I've said enough so on that note, I highly recommend California Dreaming. P.S. Having read that some versions didn't have America's version of The Mamas and the Papas "California Dreamin'", I'm glad to mention that the title song is indeed in Hulu's version.

Dennis Christopher ("Fade to Black") has the central role here as T. T., an ultra-nerdy kid newly relocated to California from Chicago. Taken under the wing of genial bar owner Duke (the always reliable Seymour Cassel, "Faces"),T. T. yearns to be a part of the local young crowd. Unfortunately, he just doesn't understand that these surfers and beach bums just aren't very interesting people and he shouldn't consider them role models in any way. In the meantime, there are subplots such as the romantic relationship between Stephanie (Tanya Roberts, 'Charlie's Angels') and airhead surfer jock Rick (John Calvin, 'The Paul Lynde Show').

"California Dreaming" was written by co-star Ned Wynn, who plays the garage mechanic who takes the bet that he can't live in his car for an extended amount of time. It plays like a late 70s update of the beach party movies of the 1960s (also from A. I. P.),except with an ultimately more serious mind and more subtle comedy. Overall, it's a reasonably engaging movie that gets by due to a very capable cast, some poignant moments, outta-sight surfing scenes, and a good soundtrack (with America covering that old Mamas and the Papas title song). Directed by John D. Hancock ("Let's Scare Jessica to Death", "Bang the Drum Slowly"),it's wonderfully shot by Bobby Byrne, and is largely light-hearted stuff, with a standout characterization by Cassel as an enthusiastic tale-spinner, intent on rehashing the glory days of his youth. It ends up blindsiding you with a devastating turn of events late in the game, adding some weight to the story.

Christophers' performance may be a matter of taste, as he lays on the awkwardness rather thick. But the lovely Glynnis O'Connor ("Ode to Billy Joe") is enchanting as Dukes' daughter and a requisite love interest who finds T. T. a turnoff at first. A steady parade of familiar faces fill out supporting and character roles with style: Dorothy Tristan ("Klute"),a.k.a. Mrs. John D. Hancock, as Dukes' ex-wife, Todd Susman ("The Loners"),Alice Playten ("Legend"),James Van Patten ("Roller Boogie"),Stacey Nelkin ("Halloween III: Season of the Witch"),Barton Heyman ("The Exorcist"),Kirsten Baker ("Friday the 13th Part 2"),and Bonnie Bartlett ("Love Letters").

Somewhat forgotten over time, "California Dreaming" is certain to make some viewers very nostalgic for this time and place in American pop culture.

Eight out of 10.