[.ca] Flamingo Kid (Widescreen)

From Amazon.com:
Matt Dillon broke through as a heartthrob in this surprisingly affecting comedy, from director Garry Marshall. Dillon plays a Brooklyn kid who lands a summer job at a tony Long Island beach club in 1963. His good looks and obsequious manners win him favor among the snobby members, who trigger dreams that he might actually move up far enough in the world to be one of them--particularly his hero, the club gin champ (Richard Crenna). Meanwhile, his hard-working plumber father (Hector Elizondo) casts a jaundiced eye at all the easy moolah his son is raking in in tips and the lessons about easy living that he seems to be learning. Marshall captures a loose comic nostalgia and the sense of a teen who is suddenly discovering his own abilities--and seeing his parents for the first time, both for bad and for good. --Marshall Fine

Sweet Ginger Brown:
Good coming of age movie set in 1963 about a guy, his Dad, and the bi wig aouto dealer and card shark. Plus you get to see one of the great butts in film history when Janet Jones in her film debut gets out of the pool.

Summer the way it used to be...:
Whoa! Trip to yester year.... Matt Dillon is outstanding in one of his earlier and most memorable flicks. A great story well told, we learn that father really does "know best", and that the old-fashioned values are the only substantial anchor. Fisher Stevens as Hawk is awesome in his first "named" role. Also good is Janet Jones (better-known now as Wayne Gretzky's wife)--heaven only knows why she never received another significant role. Too bad the film was marred by a couple of iterations of the PG-13 word and a nude sex scene (sensitive body parts hidden...)--I would like to have shown this one to my kids.

Richard Crenna steals the show:
Yes, Matt Dillon may "come of age" in this film, but Richard Crenna steals the show as a fat-cat owner of a car dealership who lies and cheats at gin and thereby teaches young Jeffrey Willis that all that glitters is not gold. A lovely bikini-clad Jessica Walter as Crenna's wife not only brings her impressive acting talent to this film, but also holds her own (at the age of 43) against the younger bathing beauties that populate the Flamingo Club.

'THE FLAMINGO KID':
MATT DILLON OFFICIALLY BECAME A SUPERSTAR AS HE SHINES IN THIS SURPRISINGLY EFFECTIVE 1984 COMEDY. DILLON STARS AS A COLLEGE AGED BROOKLYN YOUTH WHO AGAINST HIS FATHERS (HECTOR ELIZONDO) WISHES LANDS A SUMMER JOB AT AN UPPER CLASS LONG ISLAND BEACH CLUB. THERE DILLON MEETS A SUAVE CAR DEALERSHIP OWNER (RICHARD CRENNA) WHO IS ALSO THE FAT CAT GIN RUMMY KING OF THE FLAMINGO BEACH CLUB. THERE ARE PLENTY OF LAUGHS AS WELL AS TOP NOTCH ACTING AND GREAT DIRECTING BY GARRY MARSHALL. LOOK FOR NICE SUPPORTING ROLES GIVEN BY JESSICA WALTER AND JANET JONES WHO WE DISAPPOINTINGLY NEVER REALLY SAW MUCH OF AFTER THIS SOLID PERFORMANCE.

"Dad, how many potatoes do you think you'll eat b4 u die?":
I fell on the floor with above line by Matt Dillon, to his father, perfectly played by Hector Elizando. And many other lines as well. Dillon is a young impressionable kid from working-class Brooklyn who is in awe of the part played by Richard Crenna, a charming charlton. Dillon's character is swept up by wealth and the beautiful people and Crenna's character undoubtedly likes the attention. So Jeffrey hangs on to every word and goes home at night and repeats them. It doesnt take long for his true-to-his word father to catch on and call him on it. The differences in class and values come to a head when Elizando and Crenna meet. Funny and very entertaining.