Plumm Summer (2008)

20% of critics liked it
(10 reviews)
45% of users liked it
(276 ratings)

A highly unlikely crime helps bring together two brothers in this nostalgic comedy drama. Rocky Plumm (Owen Pearce) is a five-year-old boy growing up in a small Montana town in the mid-'60s. In Rocky's eyes, there's no star bigger or brighter than local kid's show host Happy Herb (Henry Winkler),… More A highly unlikely crime helps bring together two brothers in this nostalgic comedy drama. Rocky Plumm (Owen Pearce) is a five-year-old boy growing up in a small Montana town in the mid-'60s. In Rocky's eyes, there's no star bigger or brighter than local kid's show host Happy Herb (Henry Winkler), who appears on TV weekday afternoons with his puppet friend Froggy Doo. When the Froggy Doo puppet is stolen, Happy Herb's show goes off the air until the doll can be found, which only adds to Rocky's unease as his folks (William Baldwin and Lisa Guerrero) struggle to salvage their clearly failing marriage. Rocky's big brother, Elliott (Chris J. Kelly), isn't especially concerned about Happy Herb's problems or the forced hiatus of Rocky's favorite show, but when Haley (Morgan Flynn), a pretty girl with a yen for detective stories, moves in next door, he suggests they join forces to help find Froggy Doo. Before long, the youthful sleuths find themselves crossing paths with a pair of federal agents (Peter Scolari and Rick Overton) and a growing list of suspects as they follow the thief's trail. A Plumm Summer was the first feature film from writer and director Caroline Zelder. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 41 min.
Directed By: Caroline Zelder
Written By: Caroline Zelder, Frank Antonelli, TJ Lynch
Genres: Action & Adventure, Television, Kids & Family, Comedy

In Theaters: Apr 25, 2008 Wide
On DVD: May 5, 2009
Studio: Freestyle Releasing

Critic Reviews

Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter
This family film is willing to tackle important issues such as burgeoning sexuality, alcoholism and a troubled home life but does so in a bland and unconvincing story.
Peter Schilling, Minneapolis Star Tribune
This might be palatable if it weren't also fraught with leaden direction and horrible acting -- it's a painful thing when William Baldwin's the best actor you've got.
Lael Loewenstein, Variety
Feels like an homage to a bygone era of moviemaking.
Kevin Carr, 7M Pictures
While ninety percent of the film is good for the family, there is ten percent that I will caution parents on.
Brian Orndorf, DVDTalk.com
Film crumbles when the oppressive frowns are released, turning an amiable diversion into a chore to finish, due in great part to the sheer weight of the distress. The movie never fully recovers from the sour detour.
Nancy Davis Kho, Common Sense Media
Coming-of-age tale set in 1960s Montana.
Jeff Vice, Deseret News, Salt Lake City
The shame here is, it's not a terrible movie. It's just pretty amateurish in terms of the direction and some of the performances.
Sean Means, Salt Lake Tribune
The happy Hardy Boys action takes an uncomfortable back seat to low-rent melodrama.
Wade Major, Boxoffice Magazine
The story mechanics don't always work-the film vacillates between feeling heartfelt and clumsy.
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul), St. Paul Pioneer Press
A proud throwback to '70s family melodramas, such as Where the Red Fern Grows, Plumm seems slow, melodramatic and contrived when compared to contemporary movies.
Ella Taylor, L.A. Weekly
First-time director Caroline Zelder brings warmth and restraint to this tale of Montana child detectives on the case of a beloved frog puppet that, to the devastation of its over-invested owner-operator (Henry Winkler), goes missing.