转自 Christopher Cline的影评
"A pleasant throwback to the coming-of-age & slice-of-life genre..."
The American cinema has been dominated for many years by the beast that is the "action blockbuster". In a year that has been dominated by action flicks like "Jack The Giant Killer", "Oz, The Great and Powerful", "GI Joe : Retaliation", "Olympus Has Fallen", and not to mention "A Good Day To Die Hard", a simple coming-of-age comedy is easily overlooked by the common movie goer. But as always, there are exceptions every now and then where a small- time independent film with a good story, good cast, and a good marketing strategy seeps through the cracks in the foundation of cinema society and becomes a target of interest. Some notable examples of these "independent gems" of the 21st century would include: "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", "Juno", "March Of The Penguins", and...still much to my surprise..."Napoleon Dynamite". As such, I have tremendous confidence that "The Kings Of Summer" will achieve some level of notoriety for it's effort in capturing a very welcome offbeat and whimsical interpretation of the coming-of-age and slice-of-life film genre. The story focuses around three young boys who have just finished their first year of high school and are unfortunately finding the first few days of summer to be a less than welcome reprieve. Our three misfit teenage protagonists are Joe Toy (Nick Robinson), the out-of-touch teen who struggles to find peace of mind with his less than affectionate widowed father Frank Toy (Nick Offerman). Patrick Keenan (Gabriel Basso), the awkward silent type with the overly involved parents (Mark Evan Jackson & Megan Mullally), who struggles with finding independence and personal freedom under the clouds of parental control. And finally, Biaggio (Moises Arias), the very rare embodiment of social awkwardness and complete and total lack of personal sophistication teenager, that invokes a combination of amazement, bewilderment, and pity simultaneously from the common viewer. It's a role that cannot be explained...only watched. As these three boys grow emotionally exhausted with there seemingly pointless lives, Joe Toy hatches the idea of leaving their old lives behind and building a house from scratch in the unexplored wilderness of Ohio. Together, the three of them run away from home, determined that they can live off the land without parental control breathing down their necks and quickly erect a make-shift house of their own from forest growth, and abandoned (and stolen) construction materials. While the thrill and excitement of their accomplishments fuels them for a time, after a couple of weeks in the forest on their own they quickly realize that the responsibilities that come with adulthood aren't exactly the joys they had hoped for. While the plot is relatively simple on paper I have yet to see a film where it unfolds in such charming originality as it does here. It's a "gawky" and "cutesy" storytelling style that relies on it's own social awkwardness to bring out the genuinely funny moments and the dramatic transformation of our heroes in question. It can be classified in my book as both an "experimental indie-film", and a potential modern day "classic". But either way, it's an all around fun film! While there is the occasional editing goofs and mishaps that come with indie-films the cinematography is quite good and really captures the forested landscape with a poignant artistic fashion. But ultimately, this story is nothing without the characters! The story would not be nearly as memorable if it wasn't for the talented cast of actors that fully drive the plot of this story. Robinson and Basso are right at home in their roles and the friendship between them is very well written and performed. I rarely felt that the acting was forced or overdone. Offerman, Mullaly, and Jackson also give stellar performances as the parents, bringing the typical comedic talents they have been known for in their previous works on screen. But Arias as "Biaggio" is quite possibly one of the best comedic performances I have ever seen a young performer give . It's a wonderfully bizarre role that fully encompasses both the awkwardness and the sincerity of a social misfit. The role is so over-the-top that it's amazing that Arias can make it look so natural and genuine. Ultimately, it's a film worth seeing by a mainstream audience and I'm hopeful that CBS Films will be successful in achieving this goal. It's done very well on the independent circuit so far, and it's national opening is currently June 7, 2013. Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts is relatively new to directing and film-making, but this is definitely a great start to a hopefully great career. While it may not be everyone's personal favorite film, it will without a doubt leave its own unique imprint on the viewers who watch it. It strives to be original, funny, intriguing, and somewhat life changing, and I say it hits the mark very well on all of these points. Only time will tell whether or not this film makes it's way to the level of popularity as it's aforementioned indie predecessors of yesteryear.
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作者大多表露出对独立电影的期望与赞美。独立电影依靠一种真实平和的力量打动观众，更能走入到观众的生活中去。这些成功的独立电影就如作者所说一样，着力于让故事原创度高，幽默有趣，让普通人的生活发生改变。
《夏日之王》的题材横向来看再普通不过，关乎青少年的成长和自我认知。但其有趣的叙事结构和镜头间节奏的把握，让电影质感更加清晰，仿佛这个夏天就发生在你身边一样。主角和他小伙伴们的故事如同发生在沉闷的午后，但导演在这个故事中加入了“比阿基奥”，这个古怪的男孩每次莫名其妙的出现在镜头前，怪异的行为更加符合森林所处的这个环境，在充满惊喜和力量的自然面前，格外契合。
每一年sundance都能给大家带来感动和惊喜。赞同作者的说法，独立电影的精彩，只有靠时间来告诉你。
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