Kicking and Screaming

"Kicking and Screaming" shows a considerable degree of self-awareness for a film about college graduation directed by a 25-year-old, but it is still an awkward, self-conscious film that is no more confident than its insecure characters.

It was fortunate that in 1995, there were producers out there who believed a movie about depressed upper-middle class white boys had commercial potential, because those producers launched the career of Noah Baumbach, who would go on to make superior films in the next decade. As in his later films, Baumbach seems to take pity on pretentious and tremendously insecure characters while simultaneously taking delight in exposing their weaknesses to the world. But in "Kicking and Screaming," unlike, say, "The Squid and the Whale," Baumbach seems to identify just a little too closely with his young characters and seems to believe that they are less obnoxious than they are.

"Kicking and Screaming"'s greatest strength and weakness is how well it captures an aspect of growing up not often captured on film: the resistance to change. Many films deal with characters who gradually change as they come of age, but "Kicking and Screaming" deals with characters who desire on some level to move on past their current selves but are hesitant to do anything about that desire. This also hurts the film, however, since very little changes from beginning to end, and when characters do change at all, they change less than they (or the film) believe.

The stagnation would not be a problem if the film were a comedy, but, while the film is full of quirky characters and occasionally funny jokes, it deals with the dullness and depression too honestly to really work as a comedy. When wealthy Max, perhaps the most stagnant of all the characters, puts a "broken glass" sign over a pile of shattered glass rather than cleaning it up, it is good for a laugh, but as the film goes on, we get to know Max well enough that it almost stops being funny.

"Kicking and Screaming" is certainly worth seeing for any fans of college-related movies and should probably be required viewing for anyone in their junior or senior years, since it could work as an effective warning against the perils that await graduates without plans. But the film, like its characters, has both too much self-consciousness and too little self-awareness to achieve the levels of comedic or dramatic potential that it hints at.

Noah Baumbach's Kicking and Screaming is one of those rare films that actually gets it right when it comes to understanding the angst of being a young adult right out of college. Baumbach's dialogue matches each of the feelings that newly graduated students go through, but doesn't stoop to the level of condescending. We all identify with the characters of Kicking and Screaming whether it is Skippy and his wanting to further his education because there might be something he missed out on or if Skippy doesn't subconsciously want to become his friends Max, Grover, or Otis. We might identify with Max who blatantly doesn't know what to do now. Max's only hellbent on not looking back on his college years, "I'm nostalgic for conversations I had yesterday. I've begun reminiscing events before they even occur. I'm reminiscing this right now. I can't go to the bar because I've already looked back on it in my memory... and I didn't have a good time." Kicking and Screaming is a film deserving to be recognize as a journey through the minds of graduates and self-discovery of oneself.

KICKING AND SCREAMING is one of the few indie talkathon pictures worth seeing. It is extremely funny, well-written, and perfectly executed by its cast. It also displays the magical talent of a man who goes by the name of Stoltz. Yes, all the perfect ingredients. And only one way to see it--after graduation.

Ted's Grade: A-

I liked The Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale but Kicking and Screaming is so inferior to that. It's obvious that this film is his first effort.

It is so cliché and slow moving that it is unbearable to watch. It is like the poor man's version of St. Elmo's Fire. I imagine Noah watched St. Elmo's Fire and tried to copy it scene by scene to create an updated version for the 1990's. For the most part, the acting is good and convincing.

Although I only paid a few bucks to rent it on Comcast I felt totally ripped off. The only good thing I can say is that it encouraged me (and probably many others) that they too can easily sell their tired,uninspired scripts as well!!

When I came across this film, I initially had no idea it was directed by Noah Baumbach. At first is rather difficult to immerse yourself in what is going on inside the screen, because there is no context whatsoever, only dialogue coming from obnoxious pseudo-intellectual grad students. It is definitely a low start, but Baumbach takes the steer and lets his characters breathe a little, with interaction in small doses among only a few other characters. Their relationships start growing and we finally get a sense of their context, not just time and place but also how everyone relates to one another and how do they feel specifically about youth, growing up, responsibilities and the future. It is only at the middle where things actually get interesting; the handling of dialogue is not great by any sort, but moderate, although not that interesting to begin with.

The characters overall are not very likeable, they all have their issues but it's hard to sympathize with any of them, because they are selfish and self-centered among other disruptive qualities. So, two of this films most important elements such as the writing and the characters try to sustain the film that ultimately fails to deliver a satisfying product.

Nevertheless, it's an acceptable effort from Noah Baumbach, but he has many better outlets than this.