The Flamingo Kid **** (1984, Matt Dillon, Hector Elizondo, Richard Crenna, Molly McCarthy) – Classic Movie Review 2010

Director Garry Marshall’s warm and delightful 1984 coming of age teen comedy treasure stars the young, fresh and talented Matt Dillon as Jeffrey Willis, a nice kid from Brooklyn who has just finished high school and gets a summer job at the fictional El Flamingo Beach Club in 1963.

There he meets Phil Brody (Richard Crenna), a creepy but popular and rich car dealer and gin rummy playing gambler who takes him under the wing and tells him how to make a fortune. Coming of age also includes a romance with cute Carla Samson (Janet Jones).

Marshall’s endearing initiation-to-manhood tale is a lovely surprise. It is winningly played by the cast led by 20-year-old Dillon at his eager comedic best, Crenna in a triumph of casting as a smug smoothie and Marshall’s regular star Hector Elizondo as Dillon’s good-hearted but bewildered dad.

This scintillating comedy is very nimbly and adroitly directed by a fired-up Marshall with an intelligent, funny and truthful-feeling screenplay co-written by him and Neal Marshall. When Matthew Broderick dropped out, the Jeffrey character had to be rewritten to suit Dillon.

Jessica Walter, Fisher Stevens, Bronson Pinchot, Marisa Tomei, John Turturro, Brian McNamara, Martha Gehman, Steven Weber, Eric Douglas, Molly McCarthy, Carole Davis and Tracy Reiner are also among the vintage cast. Tracy Reiner is Marshall’s niece. ‘When in doubt, you bring in relatives. Nepotism is a part of my work,’ Marshall says. However, he is not related to writer Neal Marshall.

Marshall’s worked with actor Elizondo on every film he’s ever made, whether in a major or minor supporting role or  an uncredited cameo.

It was the first film to be awarded a PG-13 rating in the US.

The Silver Gull Club in Breezy Point, New York, used as the location for the El Flamingo Beach Club, was badly damaged by superstorm Sandy in 2012.

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 2010

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