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77 out of 104 people found the following review useful: why all the bad ratings, 8 March 2006 Author: wildsheep from United Kingdom
I am not sure why this film is getting so many poor ratings. It is an excellent piece of film-making with a cracking script, fine performances and imaginative direction. A real eye opener that deserves a wide audience.The movie has sparked some controversy in the UK for 'glorifying' the violence, sex and drugs portrayed but that is rubbish, this is essentially a deeply moral tale at heart.Mark Kermode gave it a very sensible and measured review on his Radio 5 slot and I am in agreement with him.I predict that a number of the actors in Kidulthood will go on to bigger things. A group of talent to watch.
59 out of 76 people found the following review useful: At last a great little Film , and it's British too, 5 March 2006 Author: Black Narcissus from Maida Vale, UK
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
If like me you have despaired at the way that the London has been portrayed in films over the last 10 or so years this film is a God send. This is a London that truly reflects the city as it is today and not as it was in the 50s, like films such as Notting Hill, Wimbledon and Love Actually to name but a few. Added to that the film isn't to bad considering the recent track record of UK films. Its a bit like Larry Clarke's Kids meets Spike Lee's Do the Right Thing with added Grange Hill (a BBC Children's drama programme)all set in & around Ladbroke Grove & Harrow Road, London.The film tells the stories of a number of kids given the day off school after a girl kills herself after being bullied. What ensues over the next 24 hours includes a relentless tide of booze, drug taking, underage sex, stealing as well as Gun-crime. And not once is there any preaching or moralising that is left to the viewer to make there own mind up on.The performances in the main are some what workman like however two performances stand out, that of Aml Ameen (Trife) and Jamie Winstone (Becky). Of the two, Winstone is some to look out for because on the evidence of this film she has a bright future. Director Menhaj Huda handles things well from Noel Clarke's first time script, again both are to be looked out for in the future. The film also has a firin' Soundtrack by some of the UK's Hip Hop & Grime artists, giving the film the feel of a US production.As I said in the beginning this film is an antidote to all those fay Richard Curtis film's we've had to endure over the last few years. One hopes that the filmmakers get the opportunity to make more like it, if not in the UK in the US.The film is definitely one to check out if you can.
55 out of 76 people found the following review useful: America's 'KIDS' and girls of 'THIRTEEN', meet the UK world of 'KIDULTHOOD'...., 9 March 2006 Author: marc brown (marxthedude) from LONDON, ENGLAND
Over the waters, it seems anyone not from England is in love with that wonderful Richard Curtis-like view of the globe, which is neither bad or drastically inaccurate, but covers a very small percentage of what life in the UK and particularly ordinary UK people are actually like.Refreshingly comes "Kidulthood", an all too accurate if at times sensational version of average school-kids in London. We meet an assortment of characters, most of them only likable on a limited level, who's only motivation is to get through each day and fill the voids with partying, be it with drugs or sex, or petty crime. The film takes us through two days of their lives and how each character, be it the misguided Trife (Aml Ameen) or the sexually motivated Becky (Jamie Winstone) as well as others, on the day when a big party looms and the suicide of a classmate seems lurking in the background.Growing up on a London housing estate and seeing the changes throughout the years has made me over-critical of films depicting this. The dialogue always being too polished or too neat, the accents as caricatured as Dick Van Dyke's cockney chimney sweep (the recent "Green Street" and anything Guy Ritchie suffered from this in spades) but refreshingly all this is absent here. The performances are very real, so real, that it would be easy to confuse them as weak, particularly with characters such as Claire, played pitch perfectly by Madeleine Fairley with her words always having that hollow ring of someone saying what everyone around her wants to hear, rather than what they're really thinking. The language is fluid and the style completely believable; this is an excellent window into an average group of modern teens, as depressing as that is to admit.Marrying it to the excellent visual style and the lack of obvious moralising is both a strength and a weakness. Visually fast paced, using sliding split-screen and cinema scope, married to the creme of British gangster rap, this looks great, hiding it's indie roots and looking more like Steven Soderberg's 'Ocean's Eleven' than Larry Clark's 'Kids'. The pros of this are the audience it needs to reach will interpret this as 'cool' and maybe will end up seeing the characters as teen movie icons, more than stopping and thinking what the overall message is.It's disturbing, mostly in small gestures rather than the grand shocking ones. A pretty teenage girl is bullied, punched with a bone shattering crunch as her attacker screams at her to pick up the ring that flew off her finger, Claire is intimidated by her boyfriend by him warning that he'll tell everyone she is a lousy lay (and that's the clean version) with personal hygiene issues, as she pathetically begs him to stop; it's certainly not a film for those seeking a rose-coloured view of society."Kidulthood" is a much needed reply to the belief that England is a pretty cool place and it's teens as going through a harmless phase. It is entertaining but without selling itself out, despite an ending thats a little too explosive to believe.Not since Garly Oldman's 'Nil By Mouth' has a film seemed so richly realistic and it's to the director and the writer's credit that they have achieved this.Whilst sad, it's not as 'slash your wrists' depressing as you might assume either; the power of the film is one that lingers after and hopefully it is that, that might reach to people not only affected by what they've seen but most of all identifying with it.
42 out of 57 people found the following review useful: Good film - absurdly low rating, 8 June 2006 Author: Jeremy Liebster from United Kingdom
Like one of the other reviewers on this site I am going to vote 10 out of 10 for Kidulthood to try to redress the anomaly of its incredibly low score. Something is surely wrong with the IMDb system when most of the reviews on the site are positive yet the film has such a low rating. Anyway I thought Kidulthood was a very realistic 'urban streetkids' film which captured perfectly the style, speech and violence that happens every day around London's inner city schools. I thought the acting was absolutely fine especially considering the age of most of the actors - have those criticising the actors actually seen the way that teenage kids behave because I think they were all very believable. The film was tense, violent and gripping and is a nice London take on the issues of teenage gang violence.
19 out of 22 people found the following review useful: portrayed real life, 4 October 2006 Author: sexy_bexi_baby from London, England
As a black girl living in London, I saw how this film portrayed real life. In the scenes at the beginning, in the school, I could relate fully to the events. People may not think that it truly represents black people, or schools in London, I beg to differ. You obviously have not been in a bad enough school. The language used in the film, the slang, is a part of life now. I look at schools on the telly and wish that I do not have to call everyone 'blud'. If I do not, I will get beaten up for 'trying to be white'. Kidulthood was a fantastic film, showing, yes, a different way of life, but a true representation of it. It was actually quite unnerving at how similar life is for my community to that of the film.
26 out of 37 people found the following review useful: My troubled past comes back ., 24 April 2006 Author: shadowman123 from United Kingdom
I have seen a bundle to Brit flicks that show a hyped by stylish glamorised side of London . Should be Lock Stock , or Snatch , or maybe even Notting Hill these movies have always shown the romantic side of London . However that Ladies and Gents is only the sugar coated topping , there is another world underneath that what is known to most of us who grew up on the streets of London as the real world . The director of Kidulthood does a masterful job giving us a vision of the urban hell-hole that we have all come to know ! The social issues that are highlighted in this film are spot on , whether it be the drug abuse , teenage pregnancies or the ever looming threat of the gang culture with the idiotic craze which is known as Happy slapping .We have all read about , seen it and, probably worst experienced it . Kidulthood presents to the viewer a true , grim , depiction of a life a 15 year old black teenager Trife and his life growing up in the tough neighbourhood and school where words come cheap .We are taken into his world for just 1 day and meet a whole host of characters who fit into the doomed path of life probably just like Trife . The acting was over the top brilliant to the point where to me personally it felt that it was not a film but you were watching someone's life unfold in front of you as the director chose's location's that were truly urban nitty and gritty to the point that you don't need to marvel at the breath taking scenery , you just want to focus as the story rolls along . I'm not a huge fan of Uk hip-hop but this time it seemed to fit in and add to the flavour of the film . The only drawback was that it was a little to over hyped and once or twice it did feel a bit unrealistic in some places but it stood on track and the humour was pretty funny in places as well especially with the white hoody guy. In general Kidulthood is a deep , dark , depressing look on the darker side of London's youth and by looking at it one will walk away probably wanting to take a look back at his life and see where is his or her future heading for . Kidulthood is highly recommended film by not only my-self but several other movie lovers and I shall very likely purchase this when it hits the DVD'S.KIDULTHOOD SCORES : 8 OUT 10 FOR NOW THIS IS THE SHADOWMAN WISHING YOU ALL GOOD LUCK AND GOOD NIGHT .
21 out of 30 people found the following review useful: Amazing film, 19 August 2006 Author: urban_princess14 from United Kingdom
Kidulthood is a sharp reality. The reviewers and newspapers simply cannot handle the pure honesty of it, its gritty, British and true. The upper class society have been doing this for years, ignoring exactly what they know is going on. But they still avoid the gangs wearing their hoodies up and jeans round their knees. Kidulthood, although slightly drastic and exaggerated depicts exactly how the teenage generation does business. The name is catchy but could be better. You cant ignore the strength of the acting, and the realness of the language and use of sex references. Because its all honest, the writing is genius and comical at times, with an amazing editing and film structure. I loved it, see it.
25 out of 39 people found the following review useful: Review, 5 March 2006 Author: BigtimeFoShow
So. Kidulthood. There has been a lot of talk about this film and how it's a little over the top that it happens in one day. That may be so, but the issues faced in the film are what that demographic goes through and i think by audience reaction so far the film makers choice to show this was correct. I also believe people are missing the point. Film like books doesn't have to answer question. I thought The film itself is beautifully shot. Tufano has used everything at his disposal to make the low budget work, and with clever editing and music any weak directing is quickly covered. the acting is amazing with the Young Ameen (Trife)an Madrell (Alisa)using their raw talent to put in Stella performances. One wonders if they can get any better than this. If they can i believe the future of British TV/Film is in good hands. Noel Clarke's performance as (Sam, the Bully) was downright amazing. Seeing him totally convince me that he was not Wyman or Mickey, (the characters he plays in two well known shows)Was a treat. His menace and the intimidation factor he bought to Sam showed that many films that have used a British rapper in the parts may have missed a trick. (Although i have heard that in real life he is more like Sam than the those other characters mentioned. Apart from thee abusive bullying part of course.) Jamie winstone is also a great as (Becky) and the laughs come from Deacon (Jay) Clarke's script although great, suffers at times with the over use of bad language and violent scenes which seem a little too much. the general chatter of the young people is real enough though snatched straight from the streets of Ladbroke grove itself. You believe the conversations the kids have and kind of like their youthful ignorance. The lack of police is a bit unreal and you would think parents would be around a little more but the film makers say that this film is supposed to be from the kids point of view and not many kids get up to bad stuff with mum around. Overall i would say that although not perfect, i would say that this is the best homegrown film in at least ten years. You will love or hate this movie (I personally loved it) but you should definitely see it. British film, in all it's low budget grittyness is back. You get me! (That's what the kids say right?)
11 out of 14 people found the following review useful: Well-made and intriguing but a rather downbeat film, 23 June 2006 Author: davideo-2 from United Kingdom
STAR RATING: ***** The Works **** Just Misses the Mark *** That Little Bit In Between ** Lagging Behind * The Pits When a girl who has suffered horrific bullying at school commits suicide, it leaves 15 year old Trife (Aml Ameen) and his two friends with the day off school. Trife starts the day by learning the unwanted news that his on-off girlfriend is pregnant and the baby might be his. Frustrated at hearing this, he sets off with his friends and embarks on a day of increasingly dangerous mischief. Juxtaposed with their story is that of his girlfriend, her qualms about keeping her baby and her moral free mate willing to do anything to score money and drugs. Their paths are set to collide and result in a devastating climax.Kidulthood has that look and feel of a film out to shock (it managed a 15 certificate, but it must have only just scraped it!) If it's painting a picture of what life is really like for chavvy kids like this living on housing estates in inner-city areas, then the film manages to leave an even more downbeat and depressing taste in the mouth than it already did. It's well-acted enough, with a good lead in Ameen (who I recognized as Officer Lewis from The Bill-wouldn't have thought he'd come off as a 15 year old though) and a decent supporting cast, including an attractive presence in Madeleine Fairley (but, what can I say, a chavette's a chavvete!) It has a fine soundtrack, too, including some notable work from Mike Skinner and The Streets. It's far from a bad film, as it is, too, it's just so relentlessly bleak and with little in the way of humour and light that it never manages to come off as a truly enjoyable experience in any way. Still, it delivers what it says and more. ****
22 out of 36 people found the following review useful: A frighteningly depressing London life for teenagers, 7 March 2006 Author: tommocoyle from United Kingdom
A bold and brave film, that never pulls any punches. A group of teenagers living very negative lives see the suicide, due to bullying of a school friend and the schools closure as an excuse for a day out the streets. Some of the characters are implicit in her fate, but refuse to see their culpability. Utterly selfish and shallow, many may think that these kids deserve nothing from society they abuse at every turn. Its adults who despise and are frightened by them are mere counterpoints throughout the film. An English version of KIDS but without the horrible voyeurism?? Do these kids deserve better from society? Do they a represent a threat to society itself? These kids may be horribly violent, disrespectful, but are incredibly believable. They cannot see outside the confined personal friendships and conflicts, but we are left with a genuine sense of loss and despair at the end of the film. A remarkable and striking British film
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