The Kings Of Summer
Screening Dates:
Sat 21 September 6:00pm
Tue 24 September 8:45pm
Wed 25 September 6:15pm
Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts
Starring: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias
Premiering to rave reviews at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, The Kings Of Summer is a unique coming-of-age comedy about three teenage friends – Joe (Robinson), Patrick (Basso) and the eccentric and unpredictable Biaggio (Arias) – who, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land. Free from their parents’ rules, their idyllic summer quickly becomes a test of friendship as each boy learns to appreciate the fact that family – whether it is the one you’re born into or the one you create – is something you can’t run away from.
Like Stand By Me for this generation.
“A SLIM AND WISTFUL INDEPENDENT PICTURE” NEW YORKER
Critic: Catherine Bray
Date: 2013-08-21
Publication: Time Out
Quote: Coming on like Stand by Me meets Son of Rambow, the boys' adventure is essentially dreamy indie-teen wish-fulfilment.
Critic: Rene Rodriguez
Date: 2013-06-20
Publication: Miami Herald
Quote: A warm and affectionate comedy about that last great summer when you're 13 or 14 and you don't realize just how much your life is about to change and things will never be the same.
Critic: Sheila O'Malley
Date: 2013-06-11
Publication: Chicago Sun-Times
Quote: There is much here to admire, but the overall impression is of a film that does not have the courage of its convictions.
Critic: Mick LaSalle
Date: 2013-06-07
Publication: Hearst Newspapers
Quote: Once they go into the woods, the movie becomes as interesting as watching kids hang around and play with sticks.
Critic: Tom Long
Date: 2013-06-07
Publication: Detroit News
Quote: In its small, independent way, "The Kings of Summer" rules.
Critic: Nell Minow
Date: 2013-06-07
Publication: Chicago Sun-Times
Quote: Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and writer Chris Galletta bring a fresh and sympathetic eye to the story, evoking the pleasure of what feels - for a little while - like endless possibilities.
Critic: Geoff Pevere
Date: 2013-06-07
Publication: Globe and Mail
Quote: The foundation of a much better movie is buried somewhere beneath the debris that's too quickly piled on to The Kings of Summer ...
Critic: Ben Sachs
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Chicago Reader
Quote: Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts cut his teeth on network cable series and Internet comedy shorts, and it shows. Instead of developing a genuine perspective he simply repeats the same few stylistic gestures ad infinitum.
Critic: John Hartl
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Seattle Times
Quote: Starts out as a raunchy teen comedy, slips into nature-epic mode, then adds a romantic triangle and finally finds a comfort zone in family-sitcom land.
Critic: Joe Williams
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Quote: The sharp wit, soft-focus cinematography and slow-motion lyricism lift it into the realm of this summer's nicest surprises.
Critic: Colin Covert
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Minneapolis Star Tribune
Quote: Vogt-Roberts makes the scenery look great, but doesn't call the plays that could make the movie score. Scenes don't develop, characters don't evolve except in indie-movie-cute ways.
Critic: Ty Burr
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Boston Globe
Quote: A stylish and very funny teenage coming-of-age story graced with surreal fringes and a mysteriously hushed core.
Critic: Bill Goodykoontz
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Arizona Republic
Quote: Sometimes, a movie just has a magic about it, something that makes you look past implausibility and plot holes and whatever other shortcomings it may have and leaves you feeling good just for having seen it.
Critic: Bruce Demara
Date: 2013-06-06
Publication: Toronto Star
Quote: An unconventional coming-of-age story that's likely to appeal to the rebellious teen in all of us.
Critic: James Berardinelli
Date: 2013-06-02
Publication: ReelViews
Quote: One senses the filmmakers were going for something more profound and transformative than what ended up on screen.
Critic: Peter Rainer
Date: 2013-05-31
Publication: Christian Science Monitor
Quote: [The Kings of Summer] has some vitality, but it sinks into cliche just the same.
Critic: Stephen Whitty
Date: 2013-05-31
Publication: Newark Star-Ledger
Quote: "The Kings of Summer" invokes [John Hughes movies] without Xeroxing them, creating its own little oddball suburbia.
Critic: Kyle Smith
Date: 2013-05-31
Publication: New York Post
Quote: Less a movie than a checklist of indiecinema cliches. Youth on a journey of self-discovery? Got it. Dead mom? Uh-huh. Wounded and entitled when it's trying to be soulful, plotless, laden with indie rock and entirely overhyped at Sundance? Checkarooney.
Critic: Mary F. Pols
Date: 2013-05-31
Publication: TIME Magazine
Quote: It's easy enough to drift along with this slight, quirky charmer and when the puffed-up dramatic stuff gives way to the central theme of a father and son reconnecting, the film really works.
Critic: Betsy Sharkey
Date: 2013-05-30
Publication: Los Angeles Times
Quote: The film starts unraveling fast as fable and reality collide in messy ways. But for a brief moment the kings have their day in the sun.
