DVD Review: A Plumm Summer

Somewhere around the turn of the century, the kid movie was lost. You know what I mean: that breed of film meant just for the eyes and hearts of kids between five and eleven. One that isn’t laced with pop-cultural jabs to satisfy beleaguered parents. One that doesn’t rely on overused fart jokes to score a laugh. That rare, non-animated jewel that used to hold a prominent place on Disney’s once glimmering crown.

A Plumm Summer, based on a true story and getting a better than average DVD release soon (5/5/09), ran the film festival circuit after its 2007 release, earning awards at the Austin and International Family Film Festivals. The movie almost doesn’t belong among the pantheon of cynical kid shows more dependent on obnoxiousness than actual plot or character. In a way, it’s a little past its time, which makes it all the more precious.

In the small town of Billings, Montana in 1968, Elliot Plumm (Chris J. Kelly, aka Chris Massoglia) sits just on the doorstep of adolescence, that awkward realm of time when girls start to take up more space in a young boy’s mind. His little brother Rocky (Owen Pierce) is five, and he hates girls. What Rocky loves, however, is a little marionette frog puppet, the star of the town’s most popular kid’s show—Happy Herb and Froggy Doo.

The community faces disaster when the poor puppet (excuse me—marionette) is frog-napped from backstage during a live show. Elliot and Rocky decide to investigate. With a little help from Haley (Morgan Flynn), the new girl who’s just moved in next door, the trio search the town, and face off against the two FBI agents (Peter Scolari and Rick Overton) sent to investigate the theft.

First-time director Caroline Zelder picked up the story from novice screenwriter and Nicholl Fellowship recipient T.J. Lynch, and polished the final draft with producing partner Frank Antonelli. The script runs entirely on its own gas. Not once does the narrative stumble over a pop-culture crutch, or other ill-advised attempts to push itself into present-day allegory. The narrative, therefore, becomes a model kid movie, made for a kid’s enjoyment, with almost no concern for wooing anyone over the age of 12.

Still, adults will find enough to chew on with their kids at their sides. A Plumm Summer dabbles more in the growing pains of its coming-of-age themes, examining the loss of childlike belief, the cusp of adulthood, and the mantle of fatherhood.

Article Author: Travis Johnson

Travis Johnson is a freelance writer in Colorado Springs, and spends most of his time writing magazine features or grant proposals. He also blogs about the movies, and is hard at work writing his first novel.

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