One fine July afternoon I was up in my home state of Washington visiting with some old friends. We were exploring Bellingham when we found this small theater. The theater was only showing two movies and The Kings of Summer was one of them. Let me begin by saying I had no interest in seeing this movie. It reminded me of some male preteen adventure movie; I couldn't have been more wrong.
The plot is pretty basic; a high school teen with daddy issues wants to get away from his home. So he enlists a couple friends and the boys build a home in the woods. Add a girl in the mix for some drama and the movie is complete.
Okay now for character breakdown
Joe (Nick Robinson): The protagonist of this adventure flick. Joe in his dad have some intense conflict issues since Joe's mom died. All in all I liked this character, not just because Robinson is a total babe. Joe had a vision of being a man. He wanted his own house, to catch his own food, and he wanted his best friend and lady by his side. All though Joe wanted to be manly he did have a victim mentality, which was annoying, but was ultimately who he was.
Patrick (Gabriel Basso): The best friend. Let's just say Patrick is the ultimate bff. He would do anything and everything for Joe, he even left home when Joe wanted to go off on his adventure. Now Patrick wasn't as deep of a character as Joe, but Basso's performance was excellent. Patrick was kind, athletic, loving, and funny, which Basso played so well that it made me believe he could actually be a Patrick.
Biaggio (Moises Arias): Arias was the only actor I was really familiar with. I grew up watching him as Rico in Hannah Montana and I'll admit sometimes I follow the msfts group. Unlike Rico in Hannah Montana, Biaggio is a quirky kid that would do anything for his friends; hands down my favorite character. Biaggio was the comic relief to the sometimes serious movie. Biaggio: In Italian, the word for snake means 'the demon's cock.' Patrick: No it doesn't. Biaggio: There's a chance that it doesn't.
Kelly (Erin Moriarty): And in every movie there has to be a stupid girl. Do not get me wrong, I am all girl power and what not, but Kelly really pissed me off. She's the girl that breaks our little brother's hearts, the best friend that ditches us for a boy, she is that girl. But the worst part is that she is super nice and likeable. Moriarty did an excellent job at making the audience be really pissed off at her, but at the same time want to be her friend.
Frank (Nick Offerman): The antagonist to this movie, but I use that term lightly. Frank is Joe's dad aka the reason Joe hates his life. Offerman adds a twist to the mean ole dad. Frank is an extremely sarcastic, jackass, but just a dad stuck in his ways.
Cinematography: This film was filmed beautifully. The lighting was bright and light and well summery. A nice change of pace to the dark movies I've been watching. I especially enjoyed Joe's daydream sequences. A little juvenile, but in a refreshing way. I am also a sucker for scenes where characters are running through long grass with the sun hitting them and good music playing in the background, which this movie was full of.
So that's it guys. If you haven't already go out and see this movie, it was excellent. It's a fun movie to watch.
Peace and love cuties
Emmy
