The Kings of Summer is a coming-of-age quirkedy that I missed between the excellent Mud, The Way Way Back, and The Spectacular Now back in 2013. High-schoolers Joe (Nick Robinson), Patrick (Gabriel Basso), and Biaggio (Moises Arias) escape their parents one summer and build a house in the woods of Ohio. It is the ultimate of expression of rebelling against society and social norms; to reclaim what they believe “masculinity” to be even though we the audience see that they have it pretty good.

Nick Offerman plays Joe’s father, a gruff widower who is struggling to raise his son. He and other parents search for the boys and in this generational gap lies a divide in the film’s structure. The Kings of Summer has lined up a great deal of comedic actors in every adult role. Kumail Nanjiani, Megan Mullally, and Tony Hale, just to name a few. They banter constantly and riff while their teens ramble in the forest. Meanwhile, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts films the summer fantasy beautifully, but a bit vapidly. He cribs from Terrence Malick and employs dozens of 70’s tricks. The contrast makes the middle of this movie feels like we are watching an NBC sitcom with commercial breaks for the actual film. Advertisements trying to capture the essence of youth.

Thankfully the emotions run deeper as the film continues. Girls enter the picture and create a rift in the group. The goofy and physical Patrick emerges as a romantic and steals Joe’s crush Kelly (Erin Moriarty). They fight, grow apart, and channel aggression through Monopoly. The film mercifully doesn’t condescend to our heroes either. In one funny bit they buy chicken at the Boston Market and pass it off as hunting spoils, but are otherwise competent. They do build a house teetering on the edge of fantasy, they do trek the wilderness, and they don’t interact with nature as an alien world.

Although this film doesn’t quite grasp the profundity it’s reaching for it is still a sweet and charming experience. I look forward to what these actors do in the future and how Jordan Vogt-Roberts employs his visual flourish.