{"id":24395,"date":"2024-06-21T23:59:31","date_gmt":"2024-06-22T03:59:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395"},"modified":"2024-06-21T23:59:31","modified_gmt":"2024-06-22T03:59:31","slug":"tribeca-griffin-in-summer-way-too-classic-coming-of-age-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395","title":{"rendered":"Tribeca: ‘Griffin in Summer’ is a Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

@Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival<\/p>\n

Winner of Best Movie and Best Screenplay in the U.S. Narrative Feature section at the Tribeca Film Festival, Griffin in Summer<\/strong><\/a> by the first-time director Nicholas Colia<\/strong><\/a> is a classic coming-of-age story. It\u2019s way too classic. Set in the nice, clean, suburban small town that has no real name (let alone true social identity)\u00a0 but we\u2019ve seen in thousands of movies, this movie tells the story of a fourteen-year-old outcast who wants to become the new Arthur Miller. In order to put on stage his new, very pessimistic play about life and love, Griffin Nafly is willing to take no prisoners. <\/span><\/p>\n

His friends are basically hostages forced to play his characters; his mom is too distracted by paying him real attention; his father is a completely absent figure, on the road for work basically all the time. What is in the boy\u2019s life except writing plays that reflect in some way his miserable condition? But what was supposed to be another summer of rehearsals, re-writing, and solitude, turns into a voyage of self-discovery thanks to Brad, a troubled 25-year-old man back in town after having failed as a performance artist in New York City.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/ins>\n

Griffin in Summer<\/strong> is a cinematic paradox because it is a movie with no real flaws which turns into something in the end quite boring most likely because of the absence of flaws. Everything is in the right place in Colia\u2019s work: the screenplay is fluent and filled with funny characters; the directing is sharp and takes care of the different tones and nuances; the acting is specific and nuanced. Why then is the result so lame? Exactly because the entire movie is so polished and refined to become anonymous. <\/span><\/p>\n

Colia doesn\u2019t take any real risk telling his story and doesn\u2019t dig into the desperation of the adults or the confusion of the teenagers, avoiding any kind of real conflict or turbulence. Even when Griffin in Summer is supposed to become more dramatic, the audience can\u2019t feel the struggle and the pain of the protagonist, dealing with his parents\u2019 horrible situation or his own sexuality. Any topic, any issue is treated with that kind of gentle touch that always stays on the surface, unable to scratch it and see what\u2019s really behind it. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

@Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival<\/p>\n

This is a coming-of-age movie which is no different from many, many like it we\u2019ve seen in the past, especially in the Nineties. You can\u2019t really write Griffin in Summer is a bad movie, not at all, but it is quite difficult to totally empathize with any of the characters mostly because you probably already did in some previous movies like this. Nicholas Colia<\/strong> proves himself a decent actor-director, allowing Everett Blunck<\/strong> to deliver a gritty performance in the main role. Next to him, the always reliable Melanie Lynskey<\/strong><\/a> and the new star Abby Ryder Fortson<\/strong><\/a> are believable, while Owen Teague<\/strong> can\u2019t always save Brad\u2019s character from stereotype, even if in some scenes he\u2019s the funniest guy on the screen.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The paradox that sometimes a film critic has to face is that a bad movie is easier to review than a decent one: a failure that tries to convey ideas is in fact way more interesting to analyze than a success that gives the audience exactly what they want to see without daring to give them something different. With Griffin in Summer<\/strong>, Nicholas Colia<\/strong> has delivered an uplifting bittersweet comedy enjoyable while you are watching it, but we would be truly surprised if the viewers would be able to remember it in a few weeks. Again, it is not a bad movie, it is just quite anonymous.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Rate: C<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you like the article, share your thoughts below!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Check out more of Adriano’s articles.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

@Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival Winner of Best Movie and Best Screenplay in the U.S. Narrative Feature section at the Tribeca Film Festival, Griffin in Summer by the first-time director Nicholas Colia is a classic coming-of-age story. It\u2019s way too classic. Set in the nice, clean, suburban small town that has no real name (let…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3044,"featured_media":24398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20471,19],"tags":[22821,22820,21637,5917,22819,7898,332,22818],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cinema Daily US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"980\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"551\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Adriano Ercolani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Adriano Ercolani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395\",\"name\":\"Tribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947\"},\"description\":\"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png\",\"width\":980,\"height\":551,\"caption\":\"Griffin in Summer\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Tribeca: ‘Griffin in Summer’ is a Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/\",\"name\":\"Cinema Daily US\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947\",\"name\":\"Adriano Ercolani\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg\",\"caption\":\"Adriano Ercolani\"},\"description\":\"Adriano Ercolani Profile Italian Film Critic and TV Author living in New York since 2011. Critics Choice Association member. Graduated in History of Cinema in Rome, he works as a freelance correspondent for some of the most important Italian outlets like Hollywood Reporter Italy, Comingsoon.it, Cinefilos.it and Ciak Magazine. He started working as a film critic almost thirty years ago: in his career he attended the most important Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festival, Tribeca) and conventions (San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Disney D23). All over the years he has interviewed some of the most important contemporary authors like Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion). In 2009 he interviewed Christiane Kubrick and Ian Harlan inside Stanley Kubrick\u2019s private office. Other than movies he is fond of American literature and basketball. Los Angeles Lakers fanatic. He lives in New York with his wife and his bossy 3-year -old daughter.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3044\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story","description":"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story","og_description":"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.","og_url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395","og_site_name":"Cinema Daily US","article_published_time":"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00","og_image":[{"width":980,"height":551,"url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Adriano Ercolani","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Adriano Ercolani","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395","name":"Tribeca: Griffin in Summer \/ Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png","datePublished":"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-22T03:59:31+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947"},"description":"Fourteen-year-old Griffin is an ambitious playwright that meets handsome twenty-five-year-old handyman Brad.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/Griffin02.png","width":980,"height":551,"caption":"Griffin in Summer"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?p=24395#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tribeca: ‘Griffin in Summer’ is a Way Too Classic Coming-of-Age Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/","name":"Cinema Daily US","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/95e551f0a1ad39393018c39bc723a947","name":"Adriano Ercolani","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/Adriano-Ercolani-150x150.jpg","caption":"Adriano Ercolani"},"description":"Adriano Ercolani Profile Italian Film Critic and TV Author living in New York since 2011. Critics Choice Association member. Graduated in History of Cinema in Rome, he works as a freelance correspondent for some of the most important Italian outlets like Hollywood Reporter Italy, Comingsoon.it, Cinefilos.it and Ciak Magazine. He started working as a film critic almost thirty years ago: in his career he attended the most important Film Festivals (Cannes, Venice, Berlin, Toronto, New York Film Festival, Tribeca) and conventions (San Diego Comic-Con, New York Comic-Con, Disney D23). All over the years he has interviewed some of the most important contemporary authors like Michael Mann, Martin Scorsese, Clint Eastwood, Peter Jackson, Alexander Payne, Joel and Ethan Coen, Kathryn Bigelow, Christopher Nolan, Greta Gerwig, Jane Campion). In 2009 he interviewed Christiane Kubrick and Ian Harlan inside Stanley Kubrick\u2019s private office. Other than movies he is fond of American literature and basketball. Los Angeles Lakers fanatic. He lives in New York with his wife and his bossy 3-year -old daughter.","url":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/?author=3044"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24395"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3044"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24395"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24395\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24398"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24395"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24395"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemadailyus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24395"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}