Day
178 The
Kings of Summer [2013]
Screenplay Chris Galletta
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Cinematography Ross Riege
Music Ryan
Miller
Leads Nick
Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moisés Arias, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Erin Moriarty, Nick
Offerman, Alison Brie, Marc Evan Jackson, Megan Mullally
Production Low Spark Films, Big Beach Films
IMDb 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes 76%
Ten
out of ten for effort. This film trod the line between top marks and bang
average ones, but I’m afraid it ends up floating around in no man’s land with
all the films that everyone will only watch once, decide they were alright and
move on to bigger and better things. This film reminded me a little bit of Captain
Fantastic (Day 27) without the adult figurehead, or perhaps Into the
Wild without the ambition. It is about two teenage boys who are fed up of
their parents and decide to take their lives into their own hands by building a
house in the woods. They helped by an oddball third, who it seems is after
acceptance and friendship rather than fleeing the nest. Joe is our protagonist,
played by Nick Robinson (the ‘cool’ teenager in Jurassic World). He is
driven from home by his single father, Parks & Recreation favourite
Nick Offerman. Gabriel Basso plays Joe’s best friend Patrick who cannot handle
his annoying and super lame parents, who are actually one of the highlights comedy-wise.
The oddball is Biaggio who is played by Disney channel regular Moisés Arias. He
made me laugh, although disappointingly they overdid his quirkiness to a
childish level. There were hints of a good movie as the boys built their house
and lived off the land as their parents searched furiously for them. However,
as is often the case in a teenage movie such as this one, a girl comes between
the best friends and the movie goes downhill. It wasn’t all bad though, there
were parts Vogt-Roberts did really well in making us understand Joe’s
situation. There were some heart breaking moments which made me feel like a
teenager again as Joe had to deal with Patrick taking the girl he liked. I don’t
think the producers could decide whether to make this a kid’s film or a film
for everyone. It ended up somewhere in between and suffered because of it. That
being said I did enjoy large chunks of this movie and so might you. At least it
may make you feel young again.
Acting 2 / 4
Writing 2 / 4
Cinematography 3 / 4
Music 2.5 / 4
HWF rating 2.5 / 4
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