MOVIE REVIEW

The family film, based on a true story, is homespun but veers unevenly between adventure and emotional issues.

By Mark Olsen, Special to The Times

At a time when most family films come across as extended toy advertisements or digital extravaganzas, there is something refreshing about a homespun, live-action tale of summertime adventure, full of bicycles and tennis shoes, where the most high-tech gadget is a squawky radio walkie-talkie.

Such it is with "A Plumm Summer," a story inspired by real events involving the host of a small-town children's television show and the case of the missing mascot.

ADVERTISEMENT

Happy Herb (Henry Winkler) and his marionette sidekick, Froggy Doo, are all the rage with the youngsters of Montana in 1968. When Froggy Doo goes suspiciously missing, a trio of kids (Chris J. Kelly, Owen Pearce and Morgan Flynn) set out to solve the crime.

Adding to the mix is a certain amount of domestic tension, as two of the kids' parents (Lisa Guerrero and William Baldwin) seem on the verge of splitting up.

It is ambitious of the filmmakers to acknowledge the ways in which childhood can be full of confusion and turmoil along with lazy afternoons by the riverside. They tend, however, to overstuff, swerving awkwardly between the aw-shucks adventure and genuine emotional issues, giving the film an off-putting sense of imbalance.

As a drunken dad, Baldwin, in particular, tends toward overacting and pulls the film over the top.

In her feature-film debut, director Caroline Zelder (who also co-wrote the script with Frank Antonelli and T.J. Lynch) exhibits competence but no real flair with the camera or particular sense of style.

Other slight deficits show the seams of the film's presumably independent means: At times, the sound recording is a little off, and the period trappings tend to stand out rather than integrate into the action.

Meant as neither an endorsement nor a condemnation, perhaps the most accurate description of "A Plumm Summer" is that it could be worse.

"A Plumm Summer." MPAA rating: PG for thematic elements and some mild rude language. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes. In limited release.