National Lampoon’s ENDLESS BUMMER(2009)

SHORT VERSION:
With help from his friends Lardo, Sparky, Anne, Iris, and Mike, J.D. reclaims his surfboard from Brian. When he asks Brian why he stole it from him, Brian explains that Iris broke up with him to hook up with a surfer, so he felt that he needed to take his anger out on a surfer, hence why he did what he did to him.

The gang heads back to Ventura, and J.D. and Lardo drop Mike off at his house and then the others outside Sparky’s apartment building before driving off for elsewhere. However, when J.D. takes a sharp turn, his surfboard falls out of his car and onto the road, and before he and Lardo can retrieve it, a car comes along and runs over it, breaking it to pieces. As J.D. and Lardo exchange silent looks at both the board and each other, the voice of the older J.D. narrates that he realized that, in that moment, it wasn’t about a surfboard; it was about the journey with his friends.

The older J.D. then explains what became of his friends since that summer in 1984: Lardo is still his best friend today and is a father to a daughter. Sparky died in a surfing accident at age 25. Iris moved to New York and became an artist, and she visits Ventura whenever she can. Anne (who broke up with J.D. upon their return to Ventura due to his lack of commitment to her) got married to a great guy and had a son with him, and J.D. is great friends with her and her family. Mike is now a family man, and he is still the legend on Pierpont, and he also still hand-shapes surfboards in his garage, but for the love of it. The older J.D. lastly narrates that, as for himself, he is married, has four children, plays music with his friends, and still surfs.

The movie ends with the younger J.D. throwing the head of the broken surfboard out into the ocean.

LONG VERSION:
J.D. (Khan Chittenden), Lardo (Ray Santiago), Sparky (Colton James), Anne (Caitlin Wachs), Iris (Allison Scagliotti), and Mike (Matthew Lillard) drive out to Brian’s (Andy Fischer-Price) house in the San Fernando Valley in J.D.’s car so they can take back the surfboard that he stole from J.D., and the men go up and knock on the front door while the women wait in the car. Brian’s father Sam (James Remar) answers the door, and after J.D. explains who they are and why they are here, he lets them in without a word and then directs J.D. to Brian’s room while the others stay in the living room. J.D. finds his surfboard in the room, and Sam allows him to take it back, but just after J.D. exits the room, Sam makes a phone call to Brian. When J.D. rejoins his friends, Lardo suggests they leave, but Mike tells him they aren’t going anywhere yet. Sam then comes in, and he first apologizes to J.D. for what his son did to him before asking Mike if he has an idea on how he’d like to handle this. Mike replies that he thinks that they would like to handle this themselves.

When the guys return to the car, Anne suggests that they go back to Ventura because they got what they came for, but Mike informs her that reclaiming the surfboard was only half the journey; J.D. has to find and punish Brian now. Having already revealed to Anne that she knows Brian personally, Iris decides to reveal this to everyone else when she suddenly tells them that he works at a record store in Tarzana. She explains that she and Brian were in a relationship, but it didn’t last long, and when she dumped him, he became mentally unglued. She then apologizes to J.D. because she had no idea that Brian had plans to steal his surfboard. The group drives over to the record store and sees that Brian is inside, but as they make their way toward the door, Brian sees them coming and locks them all out. They are then forced to flee when he calls the police on them. After stealing some beer from a gas station that they were at earlier, they all head back to Brian’s house and decide to wait for him to return home so they can dish out their justice then.

After some time passes, Lardo, Anne, and Iris go out to get more beer and leave J.D., Mike, and Sparky to continue to watch for Brian from behind a hedge in front of a house across the street. Eventually, Brian does show up, and after Sam comes outside and chews him out for stealing, he summons the trio over, having known that they were there the whole time. J.D. and Mike walk over to Brian and Sam while a drunken Sparky remains behind the hedge, and J.D. asks Brian why he stole his surfboard. Brian explains that Iris broke up with him to hook up with a surfer, and he felt that he needed to take his anger out on a surfer, hence why he did what he did. Sam then tells J.D. that he has two choices: Call the cops or administer a whupping to Brian here and now. J.D. opts for the latter, but Sam stipulates that he is only allowed three free swings. However, just before J.D. can throw his first punch, Sparky appears and tries to punch Brian himself, but he misses completely due to his intoxicated state. All parties soon agree that, since Sparky took the first swing, he needs to be the one to do the remaining two, leaving J.D. no choice but to stand aside. Sparky botches the second punch, but after some intense encouragement from J.D., he scores a hit on the final attempt, walloping Brian in the jaw, after which he falls to the ground and passes out. J.D. and Brian then shake hands and make up on Sam’s orders, and after Sam sends Brian inside, he says his goodbyes to J.D. and Mike, then heads in after his son. After Sparky wakes up sometime later, he feels dissatisfied over just getting one punch in on Brian and tells J.D. that they ought to go into his house and kick his teeth in. However, J.D. – out of just wanting to go back home – lashes out at Sparky, telling him that he always talks about how he is going to do this and do that, but he ultimately just gets drunk and does nothing.

Meanwhile, Lardo, Anne, and Iris get their beer, but they get lost on the way back to Brian’s house, thanks to Lardo being stoned and giving Anne some incorrect directions. Shortly afterward, they run out of gas, leaving them no choice but to hike a mile back to the same gas station so they can borrow a gas, get some gas, and bring it back to the car. However, when they get there, the clerk refuses to loan them a gas can, and they don’t have enough cash to buy both the can and the gas. Lardo thus asks two creepy-looking guys driving a van if he can use their gas can, promising to get them some beer if they help out. They provide him with their can before offering him, Anne, and Iris a lift back to their car, and the trio decides to take them up on their offer despite the girls feeling uneasy about them due to how they look. When they all reach the car, and Lardo steps out to fill the tank, one of the guys tries to force himself onto Anne and Iris, but Lardo quickly notices this and leaps to the girls’ defense. The guys soon overpower Lardo and start beating him up, but thankfully, the girls quickly put a stop to it, and they and Lardo proceed to beat down both men. The trio then make their escape, and Iris shows the others that, in order to keep the guys from pursuing them, she took the keys to their van. Lardo and the girls pick up their friends and head back to Ventura.

When the group drops Mike off at his house, J.D. promises him that he will give him the last payment for his surfboard as soon as he can, but Mike tells him that he can just take his time with that. They then drive over to Sparky’s apartment building, and before Sparky goes inside, J.D. more or less apologizes to him for exploding at him. He also thanks him for what he was able to do and tells him that he is glad that he has his back, and they both agree to go surfing later on. Before Iris takes off, she kisses Lardo out of gratitude for defending her. As J.D. says goodbye to Anne, he tells her that he is committed to her, but after he kisses her, she replies that he is indeed committed to something; it’s just not her. When he asks her what that means, she kisses him and tells him to give her a call when he figures it out. As J.D. and Lardo drive off for elsewhere, they take a sharp turn, which causes the surfboard to fall out of the car and onto the road. They get out and go over to where the board fell, but while they are trying to pick it up, a yuppie couple that Mike encountered the day before, drive up the street in their car and run over the board, breaking it to pieces. As J.D. and Lardo exchange silent looks at both the board and each other, the voice of the older J.D. narrates that he realized that, at that moment, it wasn’t about a surfboard; it was about the journey with his friends.

The older J.D. then explains what became of his friends:

• Lardo is still his best friend today, and he now has a daughter and always makes the best of every day – in typical Lardo fashion, of course.
• Sparky ended up dying in a surfing accident at the age of 25. J.D. remarks that he was truly one of a kind, and he will always remember the crazy things they used to do together.
• Iris went to New York and became an artist like she said she would. She isn’t rich and famous yet, but she still keeps her edge, and she visits Ventura whenever she can.
• Anne found a great guy willing to commit to her. She is now married and has a son, and J.D. says he is great friends with her and her family.
• Mike is now a family man, still the legend on Pierpont. He also still hand-shapes surfboards in his garage but for the love of it.

J.D. comments that a lot of changes have happened in Ventura since that summer in 1984, but then, a lot of things have stayed the same as well, like the homeless beach dweller Del (Joan Jett). He adds that he is married, has four children, plays music with his friends, and still surfs.

The movie ends with his younger self throwing the head of the broken surfboard out into the ocean.