[7]

Three teenaged boys run away from home and build a house in the woods where they live off the land, experiment with facial hair, and let a pretty young girl come between them. The boys are played with plenty of charisma and personality by Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, and Moises Arias. The film vacillates between awkward comedy and semi-drippy melodrama — a bit of a tightrope act. The only time it really bothers me is when the boys’ parents are on-screen. I love the actors (which include Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman), but their roles are a little too aloof and over the top for me. As a matter of taste, I’d have preferred the script to be a little less whacky and a lot more earnest. What I loved most about the film was Jordan Vogt-Roberts’ direction — surprisingly cinematic and beautiful to look at, and it even felt experimental at times. Unlike most factory-made teen comedies, this one’s got a sense of grandeur and (humanistic) spirituality that’s kinda refreshing.