Garry Marshall certainly had a feel for the mood and atmosphere of New York in the Kennedy years in directing The Flamingo Kid. I knew someone who practically lived at the Brighton Beach Baths in Brooklyn growing up and who played a mean competitive paddle tennis.Matt Dillon is our hero protagonist at the Long Island summer beach club where the boys live for the tips. But the guests here tip like Frank Sinatra, in fact some of them are paying their way through college. They're rich and like to thrown their money around. Just have your hand out and catch as a cabana boy.Dillon is a working class kid with parents Hector Elizondo and Jessica Walter and dad's a working guy all his life and like every other parent hopes his kid will do better than being a plumber. Funny thing is that plumbers do very well and the work is steady.But Dillon falls under the influence of charismatic car dealer Richard Crenna who eschews the value of education. He's Donald Trump with a little more polish. He also has a nice side income in some high stakes gin rummy games with some regulars at the cabana.Essentially Dillon has to make a choice and get an education or go to work as Crenna's dealership. For all their smoothness it would probably astound Crenna at how much he does not know, but he probably wouldn't care.Let's say Crenna is not quite the hero Dillon first thinks he is. Matt does a lot of growing up at that cabana that summer.The Flamingo Kid is an acting duel between Dillon and Crenna. Dillon strikes a lot of emotions as the tough kid from Brooklyn who makes the right moves in the end. Crenna does one of the best performances in his career as a charming, but sneaky and potentially dangerous if the conflict was more than a gin rummy game.Garry Marshall gives us a winner with The Flamingo Kid.

This movie was so great when it came out and is still great. I just watched it again 20 years later! Wow, has it been that long???? Charming story of a very bright young man Jeffrey Willis who has a bright future as an engineer. His father, a plumber wants to see his son become a success and wants him to stay on this path, but the summer before Jeffrey is to go off to college rather than working in an office he gets a job as first a parking lot attendant, and then quickly promoted to cabana boy at a fancy long island beach club. He is so enamoured with the lifestyle of these rich folks and especially impressed by Phil Brody, who made his fortune in luxury cars and feels he's found a new mentor.Despite the fact that he is merely the cabana boy he really feels this is the life he wants to live. He looks at his Brooklyn roots and feels somewhat ashamed, and wants this life of luxury to start right now. Mr. Brody is also impressed by Jeffrey who is very smart, and a go getter. He shows Jeffrey "the ropes" and a new way of life. He even offers him a job as a salesman at one of his shops. Jeffrey is all ready to say F college! He now wants to be like his hero, Phil Brody, who also is the reigning king of the gin games at the club.The movie is so old, but I won't spoil for you how it ends except to say that his illusions are pretty much shattered.Great film. Great performance by a very young, very cute Matt Dillon.

I thought this movie was very good. The cast is excellent. I loved Dillon, Elizondo and Crenna. They had great chemistry together. Janet Jones was nice too look at, but as far as acting goes, she didn't do it for me. The story was very good and kept me interested.On a whole I rate the movie a 8.

Charming comedy from Garry Marshall starring Dillon as a Brooklyn teenager taken aback by the smooth lifestyles at a posh beach club. At the club he meets swift characters like car dealer Richard Crenna, in a wonderful role and the lovely Janet Jones, before the Gretzky. Hector Elizondo is also stand out as Dillon's father. Marshall also wrote the script for the film and it flows with heart and humor all the way through.