THE KINGS OF SUMMER
Starring Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias
Directed by Jordan Vogt-Roberts
In the early days of an Ohio summer, three teenage underachievers steal off into a forest and construct a slapdash home that bears an unnerving resemblance to the film they occupy: a thrown-together assemblage of familiar elements that threatens to collapse at any moment.
After his issues with his hard-ass dad (Nick Offerman) become irreconcilable differences the police are summoned to settle a Monopoly dispute Joe (Nick Robinson) hatches his back-to-the-land scheme. His best friend Patrick (Gabriel Basso) joins him, not out of teenage rebellion but rather abject exasperation with his profoundly square parents. Serving as third-wheel is diminutive, machete-wielding Biaggio (Moises Arias), who seems to have been born of screenwriter Chris Gallettas belief that some sort of indie comedy quirk quota must be met.
Biaggios unchecked weirdness is but one element of the film that likely worked better on the page than it does on the screen. Directing his first feature, Jordan Vogt-Roberts brings an equally heavy hand to the obvious Eden parallels that see the arrival of a girl (Erin Moriarty) destroy the boys idyll before a serpent rears its poisonous head.
Ultimately, its left to the proven veterans to continually steer things back on course. The Kings of Summer wouldve been well-served by some tough love.
