The Kings of Summer is a Sundance favorite from first-time director Jordan Vogt-Roberts (among his short-film credits, JVR co-wrote the pretty good T.J. Miller/Lizzy Caplan number Successful Alcoholics, from 2010. If you have 25 minutes to blow, I wouldn’t not check it out). Your basic setup: Three kids, with various motivations — one’s dad is jerk Ron Swanson (a.k.a. Nick Offerman), one’s mom is needling Megan Mullally (aaaah, the two are married in real life but not in this, aahhhhh) — decide to skip out on regular home life, build a ramshackle crib in the woods, and squeeze in some super high-quality coming-of-age stuff. You know, your basic fake-hunting, machete’ing, shirtless sword running, all that good stuff. Slashfilm, who saw the movie at Sundance and gives it the co-sign, says the trailer conveys something a bit more straightforward than what you’ll actually end up seeing on the screen. But screw it. This is already super motivating: Think about all that DIY carpentering/adventuring when you make your summer plans, and they consist entirely of the words get, drunk, and outside.
The Kings of Summer Trailer: 3 Teen Thoreaus
Coming-of-age, via DIY carpentry.
