Review of The Kings of Summer (2013) by Eamonn R — 13 Apr 2014

When Kings of Summer kicks off we meet Joe, he's a young kid living with his father Frank and they aren't exactly getting along, which is the nice way of putting it. Once a very serious game of monopoly takes an escalated turn (seriously, boardgames have a serious effect in coming of age films in 2013, here and in The Way Way Back), Joe runs off to a party where he meets his crush Kelly, but can't really do anything because she's with her boyfriend Paul. After another escalated turn, the party gets broken up and Joe runs into the woods with the young awkward kid from school Biaggio and along the way. Once he stops at a certain area in the woods and has a brainwave of I don't have to listen to shit from my Dad anymore, why don't I just build a house here? From there, the journey begins of him, his best friend Patrick and the kid Biaggio, which Joe is too afraid to tell him to go away, building the house out in the middle of the woods and happen to evolve and mature more than they could've imagined.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, it felt like an ode to the old Hughes coming of age films while adding in the quirks of recent ones to keep people entertained, with most of the oddball comic relief coming from Baggio, particularly in the police station scene. Most of the big laughs for me came from Nick Offerman as Joe's dad Frank, just the deadpan delivery in a few scenes had me in stitches. Some of the jokes were a bit out of place, particularly the 'Have you heard about the boy that cried wolf?' especially. Also it had Alison Brie....that's not a bad thing, that is a good thing.

The characters, particularly among the three young men, balance well amongst one another, though Joe does come off as the dick one with the 'We will become men', 'We are men' spiel after a while but you get the frustration and hurt he feels when he witnesses his best friend and crush falling for each other, because it's the key moments like that feel authentic because like kind of shit happens.

Nick Robinson does a good job of making a character that seems a bit of a dick (in my view) sympathetic towards the end, Gabriel Basso does a good job as Patrick who follows Joe's lead while also dealing with his delirious parents and expect to see more of Arias in similar comedic roles in future as he potentially gets typecast for a few years.

One of the better coming of age films in recent years, enjoyed the story throughout even with a few minor flaws (in my opinion). Also please have Nick Offerman to be in every single indie film for the next few years.