Film Review: The Kings of Summer

Written by agnes.miles on June 6, 2013. Posted in Blog

The Kings of Summer
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Screenwriter by Chris Galleta
Director of photography: Ross Riege
Production designer: Tyler Robinson
Music: Ryan Miller
Costume Designer: Lynette Meyer
Editor: Terel Gibson
Executive Producers: Richard Rothfeld, Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Peter Saraf, John Hodges
Running Time: 93 Min.
Principle Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Erin Moriarty, Marc Evan Jackson, Thomas Middleditch, Tony Hale
Disribution: Big Beach, Low Spark Films

Tweetable Review: The Kings of Summer is a uniquely intimate and dazzlingly brutal look at youthful independence. A perfect companion to Stand By Me.

Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ first feature film The Kings of Summer opens on three boys pounding away on a drain pipe as if they were in tribal ritual – the whole ordeal ending in a cacophony of sound and deep-toned imagery somewhere in a secluded and tranquil forest, as if to give the impression of a self-contained World – oblivious to anyone not in the inner circle.

The Kings of Summer is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends – Joe, Patrick and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio – who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. Free from their parents’ rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship as each boy learns to appreciate the fact that family – whether it is the one you’re born into or the one you create – is something you can’t run away from.

Setup as an eccentric adolescent tale, Roberts first Feature outing is rife with quirky sensibility that normally comes with many coming-of-age stories but unlike previous entires, Vogt-Roberts proves deeper. Overall the screenplay which Chris Galletta has constructed offers a new telling of the traditionally persistent teen angst and restlessness. The wonderful thing The Kings of Summer manages to pull out is very smartly driven & absurdist humor on the life of a teen, by involving a truthful and humorous perspective on how parental units are something of completely foreign beings. Director Vogt-Roberts knows timing, pacing, style and confidence and carries his knowledge over to The Kings of Summer, which is especially solid considering this is a creator and director for Mash Up on Comedy Central. The Kings of Summer is a powerfully moving & character-driven film that captures the uniquely intimate and dazzlingly-brutal look at the search for youthful independence. The acting is strong, the camera work is beautiful and the Spectacular Now isn’t officially out til Fall, so audiences have no reason not to see this film.