|
The Kings of Summer
| Released |
23 August 2013 |
| Director |
Jordan Vogt-Roberts |
Starring
|
Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Erin Moriarty, Craig Cackowski, William Sonnie, Nathan Keyes |
| Writer(s) |
Chris Galletta |
Producer(s)
|
Tyler Davidson, John Hodges, Peter Saraf |
| Origin |
United States |
| Running Time |
95 minutes |
| Genre |
Comedy |
| Rating |
TBC |
|
|
Growing pains.
Jordon Vogt-Roberts’ indie coming-of-ager The Kings of Summer wooed audiences at Sundance, and with dollops of charm and a deftly handled plot, could well prove a sleeper hit here if audiences seek it out.
Joe (Nick Robinson) and his father Frank (Nick Offerman in wonderfully sarcastic form) have been at each other’s throats since Joe’s mother died, and with sis moving out to college digs as the summer fast approaches, our Holden Caulfield-lite decides he needs to fly the coop. When the end of term party is brought to a halt by a gun-toting loon, Joe stumbles upon an idyllic glade in the backwoods and has an epiphany: he’s going to build a ramshackle house and live off the land. So far, so Into the Wild. Following suit are best friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso) who’s only too happy to escape his hive-inducing domestic situation and class oddity Biaggio (Moises Arias) who may or may not have a serious personality disorder (and naturally gets most of the best gags).
The Kings of Summer is at its very core, a throwback to those eighties films that were themselves a tribute to fifties adolescent celebration flicks – Stand By Me springing to mind immediately – and a nostalgic tone pervades throughout, while scatty camera movements give the boys frugal existence a lo-fi feel. Tonally, we enter darker territory in the third act with the introduction of a mutual love interest for the boys. Betrayal runs deep and cracks emerge, but just as melancholy takes over we’re given perhaps the funniest scene of any film this year as Biaggio displays more than a little contempt for the law. I don’t want to give too much away but there’s just something acutely funny about a sixteen year old oddball channelling Cthulhu.
Wisely sidestepping the implausibility of three kids maintaining a gaff in the woods, Vogt-Roberts reduces the building process to a single heavily-stylised montage. It might have come off as overly naturalistic or Malickian, but somehow retains the deep indie spirit that seeps into every gorgeous frame. As Vern Tessio might have said, “The Kings of Summer is a delight, sincerely”.
- Cathal Prendergast |
