Kenny & Company

Post VCR generations, find out why all your digital gadgets, the internet, and marketing based "teen wanna-be-adult" dramas have nothing to do with childhood bliss, friendships and lasting (non digital) memories.

Before I begin my comments, I want to say that my profession is in technology, and therefore, I can appreciate what modern technology has allowed us to accomplish. DVD copies of films from the 70's that can be viewed whenever you want is a prime example of this. However, I think modern parents/kids should remind themselves, and show their kids the joy of being a kid without the over-scheduling, "over-marketing" and "over-connectedness" that is, in my opinion ruining the childhood experience.

Like the other posts here, I too saw this film on HBO back in the late 70's when HBO programming didn't start until 2:30pm most days, and signed off by 2-3am depending on whether or not it was a weekday or weekend night. Remember the rolling loop of the day's scheduled programming with the jazzy Maynard Ferguson (and other instrumental only) soundtracks? Remember getting the monthly HBO guide and mapping out movies and dates to watch them, sometimes up to weeks in advance before they were scheduled to air? Oddly enough, in an analog world, as a kid back then, even without wearing a watch, kids were more aware of time and schedules, and planning, to watch TV!!! You couldn't just turn on the TV and watch cartoons at anytime, put a DVD or video tape in whenever. You had to plan to watch what you wanted, and most days, after playing and dinner and homework, you may have watched TV for only an hour or so. This is the reason why Kenny and Company is such a special film.

Kenny and Company, a true independent, ultra low-budget, "B film" as they were referred to back then, is a true time capsule of life as a suburban adolescent in the 70's. The sense of freedom, that feeling of every day being totally new, another day of adventure, of days lasting seemingly forever is luckily and magically captured here, for generations. So many scenes are just that; snapshots of not quite there youthful exuberance. Moments that you didn't think much of as they occurred, but somehow are ingrained in memory without exacting photos or audio or combined recording. The movie itself is not a recording, it is more of a window into these precious moments in Kenny and Company's lives. And what makes Kenny and Company so special is that it trusts that all of us share at least some version of the experiences in some way. Set in California, the backdrop manages not to envelop the the movie. This is a movie that most 70's kids in America could relate to, even taking in environmental/racial/economic differences. That's because the movie isn't about any of those things.

Kenny and Company instead focuses on the power of the "semi-sort-of timelessness" of being 11; a not quite self absorbed teen. It uses the power of very specific moments in pre-adolescence that influence that critical time in youth were the innocent cocoon is both unraveling yet very much still protecting it's larvae.

Without getting into a obtrusively descriptive plot summary, Kenny and Company is about three childhood friends and their adventures over a 4 day period including Haloween night. And in the those few days, the experiences they encounter are either comical, fearful, developmental and/or life altering, and often moments apart from each other. It is perfect in it's imperfection, with some moments a little cheesy, but isn't that par for the course at age 11?

It is a feel good movie, but not in the contemporary over produced post "ET", "Goonies",etc., Hollywood sense. It is much more genuine. In fact, after thirty years, it's safe to say that a movie of this type is truly special, simply because while it was basically shelved then before becoming a hit in Japan, a movie like this would never be made today. A sad statement of the film industry which would rather portray kids as smaller versions of sarcastic adults. And while I think for those of us who were fortunate enough to be of the same age group as the characters in the movie (now in our mid to late thirties to late forties) and also lucky enough to have seen this movie at the time, the connection/draw was simply magnetic. You knew it was authentic because you were right there, probably watching on some early autumn evening after school, Halloween nearing, after having walked home from school, after having spent some time at your best friends house playing outside around the neighborhood, trying to build something, or playing pranks or just exploring. Even from a cinematic perspective the movie shines; the warm California sunshine, the cool of Autumn evening, filmed in that classic 70's slight haze effect.

Kenny and Company is an exceedingly accurate portrayal of this period of time even for adults at the time. The adults are visible to the children; admired and despised alike, as parents, disciplinarians, and mentors. The gawking awe of the next to the next phase of development- the early twenty something is on display here. Even the sense of community, of knowing people in the neighborhood, even if only by name is true. Most of the movie's wonderfully unstructured self determining activity is completely absent for today's youth.

Over the years, I have been lucky enough to have stumbled across seeing this movie a handful of times on television on obscure stations since then. Until now, it hasn't been readily available. And each time I've viewed it, it still maintains that magical element that sadly may be gone forever. This is a movie for the ages in the sense that it can remind us of what childhood should be like. And just think, we looked pretty cool considering our parents picked out our clothes!!

I saw this movie on HBO a couple of years after its release and really related to the characters (being 13 at the time). It's a time capsule. Anyone considering making a movie set in the 70s should view this film to garner some ideas for period detail.

Imagine my surprise when the gang from Kenny and Company, minus Kenny, turned up in "Phantasm"!

Update - 11/2006: Saw it again on DVD after 26 years and it held up well. I was impressed with Fred Myrow's music and I really enjoyed the 360 degree shot of the vet's office waiting room when they took Bob in for the final appointment. The combination of those two elements, the music and the touching content of that scene, provided the "emotional glue" (to borrow a Coscarelli phrase) of the film for me. Nobody needed to cry; the director allowed us to connect the emotional dots. Brilliant.

If I ever make a film, I hope its half as good as this one.

I vividly remember seeing Kenny & Co in the movie theater where I grew up in Pomona, CA. I would have been about 7. The movie matches my recollection of how I grew up as a kid in 1970's Southern California. Skateboards....Kay Bee toy stores....smoggy days...hanging out all day and coming home when the street lights came on. As in the movie, blonde kids were cooler...your friend's parents never were. There is one scene that I remember being particularly sad...and as an adult, it's still sad! Decent acting from a bunch of amateur actors just doing what kids do. This movie is so much better than the terrible trailer - if you were a kid from the 1970s, it's a must see and fun trip.

Well, I might be a bit partial to Kenny and Company...I had a small role in the film as a young child on Kenny's football team, and it was made in my home town of Long Beach, California. It really was a great little film (for a then very young director Don Coscarelli) that presents a very straight forward view of "the All American Kids" going through growing pains in the 1970's...similar to what made you laugh and cry with The Bad News Bears. Director Coscarelli would soon be inspired to make his mark in the Horror Genre (after the growing pains would stop)...and would go on to create the well received Phantasm saga. I wish Kenny and Company was available on video, so more people could view some of Mr. Coscarelli's earliest (and most genuine) work.

The Genre of movies intended for viewers age 10-14 tend to be either crass exploitation or idiotic morality tales. Kenny and Co. is that rare gem of a film that transcends the limitations of it's genre.

There must have been a window in the mid '70's where it was possible to produce a "kid" movie with both heart and brain intact. The Bad News Bears (first film) is another example. In the era of Mortal Kombat and the latest Star Wars regurgitation, this well-written, fully realized, (and delightfully 'dated') work is a joy. Don Coscarelli, who went on to notoriety with the Phantasm B-Horror series, should be noted for this sensitive, aware, and charmingly non-condescending look at young malehood.

I am very interested in finding a copy of Kenny & CO. on tape, and I notice that one of the other posters on this board mentions having a copy. If you are willing to share, please contact

thanks and keep watching. jm