Florida's Film, Television and the Arts Magazine
Griffin In Summer - Movie Review by Lisa Blanck
Picture a 14-year-old Neil Simon, completely convinced he’s got the world on a string, certain he’s just a step away from Broadway. In reality, that string is attached to a lead balloon. Griffin in Summer stars Everett Blunck as budding playwright Griffin Nafly. He’s has been churning out plays for years, filling the cast with friends who tolerate his eccentricities because there really isn’t much else going on along the well-manicured streets of their boring suburban town. Griffin, completely buttoned up in his button-down shirts, escapes into his world of words because the reality of his homelife has become increasingly unsettled, and he’s afraid to tell anyone.
His mom, Helen (Melanie Lynskey), is dealing with the reality of an absent husband and a dissolving marriage. She seeks solace with her friends on the phone, leaving her son to his own devices, except when he enlists her chauffeuring abilities. This summer, Griffin’s newest project is a work he’s still penning called ‘Regrets of Autumn’. The themes are very adult – abortion, adultery, alcoholism, etc. It becomes obvious that many of the scenes are recreations of the phone calls he’s overheard between his mother, his father and his mom’s friends. To make matters worse, this summer his friends seem to be also cutting the cord, finding new interests that don’t include him. Griffin doesn’t know how to deal with the losses, when suddenly a new distraction appears in his backyard. The ultra-cool tattooed poolboy/handyman, Brad (Owen Teague).
Brad is a bit of a loser, who recently abandoned his own dreams of stardom. Last cast in a really bad self-financed performance art piece involving small baby dolls, screaming and a video screen projection, Brad doesn’t exude 'talent'. Griffin however, sees a tall, lean, handsome, slightly older man, who has been living the dream to which he, himself, aspires, and develops an instant crush. Though he had been living near Manhattan, Brad’s now living the rent-free life with his mom, working for Helen just to earn enough cash to return to NYC and continue chasing his dream.
This potentially uncomfortable situation is used as humorous fodder by writer/Director Nicholas Colia, who handles the entire relationship with compassion and care. We really love Griffin; we want him to succeed without enduring any lasting humiliation. This is due to the complete earnestness of Blunk’s acting. He nails the role, grinning even while you know he’s hurting and confused. Everything Griffin endures he incorporates into his art, even when the dialog cuts too close to home for the audience. His well-cast co-stars, including Abby Ryder Fortson, Alivia Bellamy and Johanna Colon, are supportive to a point, not wanting to hurt Griffin, but clearly uncomfortable with the direction his production has taken.
Griffin in Summer has collected awards and special mentions at various festivals including Tribeca and the Independent Spirit Awards, and for good reason. The writing is crisp, the characters, square pegs trying to fit in round holes, will be relatable to so many of us who remember uncomfortably navigating what it is to be a teen, while waiting for your life to begin. Colia, in his directorial debut, stresses this is NOT autobiographical, yet admits he did spend summers making films and creating productions in his parents’ basement.
