| Overall Grade: |
C+ |
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| Story: |
B- |
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| Acting: |
C+ |
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| Direction: |
C+ |
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| Visuals: |
C |
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Makes 'Kids' look like a Walt Disney Film
by dalems (movies profile)
Mar 24, 2006
5
of
5 people found this review helpful
Director Larry Clark once again ventures into familiar territory with this film that could have been something much better.The first forty-five minutes of this film border on full fledged kiddie porn as we watch 'teens' have graphic sex. There is also an unpleasant rape scene with homosexual undertones and a disturbing strip show involving children.In fact,the bully of this film is a sadistic jerk named Bobby who is most likely a homosexual himself.Bobby's best friend and also the target of his verbal and phsyical abuse and cruelty is Marty-a quiet,easily influenced guy.His girlfriend convinces Marty to kill Bobby and eventually he decides to do it,with the help of some other aimless,drugged out teens.This is where the film really works and the final forty minutes are riveting and disturbing.The scene where the kids murder Bobby is long and painful to watch and shows just how difficult it is to take a life.He is stabbed repeatedly and bludgeoned with a baseball bat.It is excrutiating to watch,mainly due to Clark's realistic filming techiniques and off the cuff dialogue.Overall this is a half successful,completely disturbing film that has a lot to say.But why all the teenage sex scenes? It all feels too uncomfortable and exploitive.Beware, the sex scenes in Bully make the ones in Kids look PG rated by comparison.Hard to take.But worthy of a few viewings to appreciate the final sequences fully if you can stomach it. |
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