The Kings of Summer (15) 94 mins ***
If David Gordon Green had
made Son of Rambow, it might have
looked something like this: a sunny and pretty funny coming-of-ager from Sundance-ratified
debutant Jordan Vogt-Roberts. Three high-school boys elect to evade their
overbearing families by constructing a new home in nearby woods, hoping the
task will make men of them; instead, inevitably, they grow bumfluffed,
painfully hungry, and terrified of the wildlife. Vogt-Roberts and writer Chris
Galletta spread their sympathies wide, subverting the fratcom’s tendency to
portray girls as snakes in the grass, while handing the parents – Parks & Recreation’s peerlessly
brusque Nick Offerman in particular – many of the best moments. The director’s
background in online shorts manifests itself in an occasional, montage-heavy
scattiness, and the broadly conventional closing act can’t quite maintain the
laugh rate, but there’s a lot of warm-hearted and commendably daft business
along the way.
The Kings of Summer is in cinemas nationwide.
No comments:
Post a Comment