The Kings of Summer is a film that caught me off guard when it played in cinemas earlier this year. After generating some acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, it made its arrival in early June and was pretty much overlooked by everyone. (Playing in only 65 locations didn’t help its chances for finding an audience.) Nevertheless, it has managed to be one of my favorites of the year. Normally, I’ll see a film once in theaters; this one I saw three times. That’s a rarity.
At the start the scene sets up like this: three boys in the woods, two of them drumming on a giant pipe while the third is dancing erratically on top. The scene is strange but funny, and almost feels like an outtake. Then we cut to one month earlier and see what led these boys to break loose and live in woods.
Best friends Joe and Patrick (newcomers Nick Robinson and Gabriel Basso) are at that age where video games are still one of their favorite past times, but they are also starting to think about girls a lot. They also have had it with their parents. Life’s been rough for Joe since his mom passed, leaving him to be raised by father Frank (Parks & Recreation‘s Nick Offerman), who uses sarcasm as a parenting approach, which causes their relationship to be that much more strained. As for Patrick, his parents (Megan Mullally and Marc Evan Jackson) are overly clingy and don’t take him seriously.
After Joe reaches his boiling point, ultimately calling the cops on his father when a game of Monopoly dissolves to a war of attrition, he sneaks out to a party where he meets up with Patrick and encounters the enigmatic Biaggio (Moises Arias), the strange kid who becomes the de facto third member of their group.
Joe devises a plan to build a home in the woods where they can live without parental supervision. These boys of summer – to steal the song title of a certain Bryan Adams hit – look to become men (kings, even) of their domain as they interact with nature. While the premise of fourteen year olds living in woods for an extended period of time is a stretch, we’ve probably felt like wanting to break free from our natural constraints to assert our own independence. At least the feeling is genuine and that’s what makes The Kings of Summer a strong coming-of-age film (that and the quirky humor).
It’s a toss up between Nick Offerman and Moises Arias on who is the MVP of the movie. Both performances weigh heavily on humor, but Arias has a slight advantage because his character is so unpredictable. With a steady stream of non-sequiturs he’ll make you snicker at the most random stuff (“I met a dog the other day that taught me how to die”).
Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ naturalistic direction (thanks in large part to Ross Riege’s cinematography) when paired with Chris Galletta’s coming-of-age screenplay definitely brings back memories of the past and what it was like to be a kid. The humor works because this is an indy trying to be a Wes Anderson clone.
The Kings of Summer plays heavily on nostalgia and it dares to be different with its approach to its visuals and humor. Yet it ends in shrug-worthy fashion. It’s not a total deal breaker, but it does seem like a deflated way to tie things up. The ending notwithstanding, this coming-of-age flick is worth your time if only to make you reminiscence about your own childhood and what it was like to be a kid.
Taking a look at the Blu-ray’s bells and whistles, the video seems to have an artificial quality in high-def. The vintage look that Vogt-Roberts was intentionally going for creates a hazy image, this despite the colors being fantastic overall. The artificial grain distracts those with a keen sense of vision. The audio, conversely, is pretty immersive-sounding, which is a surprise considering this is an indie film. Those with rear channel audio will be impressed with the sounds of rustling trees and the small deluge of rainfall that assaults the house in the woods.
In terms of supplemental material, the most substantial extra is the cast and crew commentary where the three young stars join director Jordan Vogt-Roberts in reminiscing about their experiences during production. They also reveal such details like what jokes got the biggest laughs during screenings.
There are three brief featurettes that seem like they were ripped from an EPK (Electronic Press Kit). Alison Brie and Eugene Cordero On-Set Interview (2:17) has the two actors talk about their chemistry in the film; Frankly Speaking with Frank Toy: The Best One-Liners (1:21) is an extra for those that just want the best film moments with Nick Offerman; and The Long Shot (2:59) has brief interviews with Vogt-Roberts, Chris Galletta and crew paired with clips from the film. And for those who like cutting room material there are fourteen minutes worth of deleted scenes.
The Kings of Summer is a very enjoyable coming-of-age flick that reminds this reviewer of some of his utmost favorites, like Stand By Me. It uses its humor and nature scenes to good effect. Even if the theme of youthful independence and wanting to live by your own means isn’t atypical, the film is still a well-acted dramedy that will have you laughing and reminiscing all the same.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and CBS Films present The Kings of Summer. Directed by: Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Written by: Chris Galletta. Starring: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally and Alison Brie. Running time: 95 minutes. Rating: R (for language and some teen drinking). Released: September 24, 2013.
