I haven’t reviewed in months, sorry about that, but nothing
too interesting has come out since the New Year, except A Monster Calls, so check that out. There are some interesting
movies coming at the end of the week, and the week after that, so I’m deciding
to start before hand with one of my favorite movies:
The
Kings of Summer.
This movie
is a coming of age story about two high schoolers wanting to get away from
their obnoxious parents. Joe (Nick Robinson) is a freshman in high school that
just ended the year and is looking forward to the summer. His Dad (Nick
Offerman) is a huge jerk to Joe because they don’t really see eye to eye. Joe’s
friend, Patrick (Gabriel Basso), is a wrestler with a leg brace, and his
parents breathe down his neck about everything. His mom is like the crazy aunt
of the family, but as a mom, and his dad is a stubborn and quiet guy that
always agrees with his wife. And with this movie’s honesty, two teenagers with
annoying parents only point to trouble. Joe is the mastermind between Patrick
and him. He finds a place in the woods and decides to build a house to hide
from his Dad. Later on Patrick agrees and they run away from their homes.
Another teenager joins in on the fun, Biaggio (Moises Arias) and he is one of
the weirdest characters I have seen in a movie. I don’t know how the writers
came up with some of his lines, but he stands apart from the rest of the phenomenal
actors.
This story is so well directed and
written, and the characters are vibrantly shown with passion in every line. Simplicity
was key in making this movie. The climax was simple and realistic, and the
struggle was very relatable and fleshed out. Time and time again we are
reminded what Joe, Patrick, and Biaggio give up in order to live in the wild,
and we are also reminded why they left the life they were living. In the end,
every character has realized the problems of their relationships and is trying
to figure everything out. There is no concrete “ok, that’s settled and we can
forget about it.” The solution is still growing after the credits roll, and not
every arc is settled redeemably. This movie was hilarious, touching, and outstanding.
It deserves a 10/10 respectfully, and I wish there were more movies like it.
P.S. the same director is making
the new King Kong movie, which I’m not excited about, but fingers crossed. I’m
trying to stay hopeful, but I wish Jordan Vogt-Roberts, the director, had
stayed in the simple films.
