Le Kid de la plage

Matt Dillon stars as a Brooklyn kid who gets a job at a summer club as a cabana boy where he learns about life in this coming of age comedy directed by Garry Marshall..along the way he meets a stunning beauty (Janet Jones, angelic in her screen debut) and he begins to fall for the good life and forgets about the true value of life, work and family.

A good cast and great music make this a very good movie..on a scale of one to ten.. 7

A great cast but the storyline is about a kid coming of age during a summer stint as a valet/cabana boy at a Long Island Beach Club. Matt Dillon does a fine job in this role as a lead. He holds his own against heavyweights like Richard Crenna and Hector Elizondo. There is Jessica Walter who played bored Mrs. Brody. The cast also featured Martha Gehman as the sister, Nikki, to Dillon's Jeffrey Willis in the role. While Jeffrey's father, Arthur, is not too happy that his son is working at the club, he deals with it and Mr. Brody's influence over him. Arthur Willis is a hard working plumber who lives with his family in a Brooklyn apartment and not a spacious mansion in Long Island like the club's crowd. I also recall seeing Fisher Stevens and Brian McNamara play his friends and Bronson Pinchot in a small role as well. It's a fine film with some comedic moments but not too many and a predictable ending.

This Matt Dillon vehicle serves as the light-hearted equivalent to "A Bronx Tale." Richard Crenna plays the Chazz Palmentieri role as the idolized kingpin and Hector Elizondo plays the Robert DeNiro role of the honorable working class father. There is some memorable dialogue, cute humor, and distinctive card playing (the upside down fan). But, best of all, are the coming of age lessons that are taught to Dillon's character about values, hard work, and summer romance. In the latter category, the movie is aided immensely by the refreshing debut of Janet Jones (now best known as Mrs. Wayne Gretsky). I recommend this without reservation!

Charming comedy from Garry Marshall starring Dillon as a Brooklyn teenager taken aback by the smooth lifestyles at a posh beach club. At the club he meets swift characters like car dealer Richard Crenna, in a wonderful role and the lovely Janet Jones, before the Gretzky. Hector Elizondo is also stand out as Dillon's father. Marshall also wrote the script for the film and it flows with heart and humor all the way through.

Released in 1984, "The Flamingo Kid" is a coming-of-age beach flick. What occasionally draws me to these types of films is their youthful energy and fun spirit, as well as the oceanic locations and the women. It brings one back in time to the carefree era of his/her coming-of-age years. Thankfully, "The Flamingo Kid" shoots for something deeper than just a shallow beach flick, which the best ones do, e.g. the original "Gidget" (1959).

The story takes place in 1963 where 18-year-old Jeffrey (Matt Dillon), a plumber's son from Brooklyn, gets a summer job at a private beach club on Long Island called the El Flamingo. This was his final summer of carefree fun before going off to college, but his experiences at the club change his plans. He makes loads of money on tips, meets a beautiful blonde and becomes fascinated by a new mentor, a fast-talking businessman and card shark, Phil Brody (Richard Crenna).

Brody convinces Jeffrey that there are easier, faster (i.e. dishonest) ways to make loads of money than going off to college for years on end. When Jeffry cancels his college plans and moves out of his house it naturally creates friction with his father (Hector Elizondo). Will he go on to become the next generation's fast-talking businessman/card shark?

Almost the entire film was shot on location at a Queens' beach club with loads of gorgeous females on hand, including Jeffrey's girlfriend in the story, Carla played by Janet Jones, whose body is so well sculptured she could've been Wonder Woman (the movie even jokes about this). Carole Davis also shines as Brody's brunette daughter, Joyce, a low-key part. Cutie Marisa Tomei even has a cameo.

The bottom line is that "The Flamingo Kid" offers everything you'd want in such a film and more, including an interesting story where you care about the outcome. And, thankfully, there's NO RAUNCH (well, maybe a flash). In addition, the soundtrack includes numerous early 60's hits like "Runaround Sue," etc. What's not to like?

The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes.

GRADE: B+/A-