Boogie (Summer Holiday) (2008)

100% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(242 ratings)

A night out with the boys becomes an eye-opening experience in this comedy-drama from Romanian filmmaker Radu Muntean. Bogdan (Dragos Bucur) is a guy in his early thirties who is married to Smaranda (Anamaria Marinca); they have a four-year-old son, Adrian (Vlad Muntean), and another baby is on the… More A night out with the boys becomes an eye-opening experience in this comedy-drama from Romanian filmmaker Radu Muntean. Bogdan (Dragos Bucur) is a guy in his early thirties who is married to Smaranda (Anamaria Marinca); they have a four-year-old son, Adrian (Vlad Muntean), and another baby is on the way. While Bogdan loves his wife and is doing well running a furniture company, sometimes he thinks about his carefree younger days and wonders if he's made the right choices in life. Bogdan, Smaranda and Adrian head off to a seaside resort for a few days of vacation; Bogdan and Smaranda have a spat and he wanders off into town, where to his surprise he happens upon Sorin (Mimi Branescu) and Vali (Adrian Vancica), two friends from his high school days. Sorin and Vali invite "Boogie," as Bogdan was nicknamed back in the day, to join them for an evening of carousing, and as they hit the town for an evening of boozing and chasing local streetwalker Ramona (Roxana Iancu), Bogdan notices that while he's grown a lot over the years, his buddies have hardly changed a bit since they were teenagers, allowing him to see what his life could have been without marriage, parenthood and responsibility weighing him down. Boogie was screened as part of the Directors' Fortnight series at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 43 min.
Directed By: Radu Muntean
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: May 16, 2008 Wide
On DVD: Feb 13, 2012
Studio: IFC Films

Critic Reviews

Boyd van Hoeij, european-films.net
Three 30-somethings relive their gloriously lurid college days for one night only in Radu Muntean's Boogie, a restrained and honest look at the male midlife crisis in an embryonic state.
Philip De Semlyen, Empire Magazine
Hampered by pacing that borders on glacial, the performances infuse the story with lingering melancholy.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
Naturalistic performances, long takes, unfussy edits and a story that unfolds over a few hours are all present and correct.
Jon Fortgang, Film4
Small but sharp and extremely well observed.
James Christopher, Times [UK]
An impressive chamber piece by a director who needs watching.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
This is a tough, shrewd, intelligent movie.
Tim Evans, Sky Movies
This is superior film-making, equally comfortable with the light (Boogie's obvious delight in his nipper and the realistic family dynamic) to the dark (his risibly macho deceipt with a jolly hooker).
Chris Hicks, Total Film
It may not scale the heights of the best recent Romanian films (4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days, The Death Of Mr Lazarescu) but Boogie is still a bittersweet character study.
Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
The film remains dour, truthful, grimly droll.
Matthew Turner, ViewLondon
Superbly acted, sharply observed and impressively directed Romanian drama, though it drags a little in the early stages.