Joe Toy (Nick Robinson) is constantly fighting with his father Frank (Nick Offerman). They're alone in the house after the death of the mother and the sister (Alison Brie) moved away. He fantasizes about his friend Kelly (Erin Moriarty) who already has an older boyfriend. He convinces his friend Patrick Keenan (Gabriel Basso) to spend the summer in the woods and build a house in an opening. The class weirdo Biaggio (Moises Arias) tags along.
There is a good sweet 'Stand by Me' vibe going for the most part. A couple of things did bug me. First, the house looks way too good. Joe had already shown that he has no wood working skills with his awful birdhouse. It's more likely that they throw a couple of tarps over some boxes. There is no way that they could build a 2 storey house in the woods.
Second, I thought Biaggio is way too weird. There is weird and then there is Biaggio weird. I like both Nick Robinson and Gabriel Basso. I don't know whether it's Moises Arias, or the writing, or the directing. I understand the approach the writer is attempting. However none of the quirkiness comes off as funny. A few got to be cute, but they were mostly awkward. I think it would have been better to have Biaggio mostly silent.
I do like the two guys and the girl. There is a lovely little teen soap opera going on. The adults led by Nick Offerman provide some good stuff but not all the wacky stuff works. Overall, it's one of those youth coming of age movies with some charm but not all the jokes worked.
There is a good sweet 'Stand by Me' vibe going for the most part. A couple of things did bug me. First, the house looks way too good. Joe had already shown that he has no wood working skills with his awful birdhouse. It's more likely that they throw a couple of tarps over some boxes. There is no way that they could build a 2 storey house in the woods.
Second, I thought Biaggio is way too weird. There is weird and then there is Biaggio weird. I like both Nick Robinson and Gabriel Basso. I don't know whether it's Moises Arias, or the writing, or the directing. I understand the approach the writer is attempting. However none of the quirkiness comes off as funny. A few got to be cute, but they were mostly awkward. I think it would have been better to have Biaggio mostly silent.
I do like the two guys and the girl. There is a lovely little teen soap opera going on. The adults led by Nick Offerman provide some good stuff but not all the wacky stuff works. Overall, it's one of those youth coming of age movies with some charm but not all the jokes worked.