Three teenage friends, in the ultimate act of independence, decide to spend their summer building a house in the woods and living off the land.
Director Jordan Vogt-Roberts and screenwriter Chris Galletta don't quite manage to dovetail the different elements – kooky fable, pastoral charmer, family drama – but there's tender characterisation, good performances and fabulous deadpan humour from Joe's dad (Nick Offerman).
Pleasant, but predictable.
Deadpan hilarious; good-natured; and with a nicely judged, ever so slightly heightened reality that is fitting for those formative, emotionally intensified teenage years.
A warm-hearted and commendably daft comedy about three high-school boys who build a home in the woods.
The offbeat Arias may steal a lot of the more memorable comedic moments, but it’s Robinson and Basso who provide the heart and soul, especially once ‘love’ threatens to come between them. Offerman’s memorably sarcastic dad also adds extra value to a film that has lots to recommend it.
Quirky, funny, occasionally too whimsical and at times implausible, it's rather like Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn meeting the cast of Rebel Without a Cause.
General release. Check local listings for show times.