Rich Kids

They know their IQ's are near genius. They know that the capital of Kansas is Wichita. They know where Mom hides `The Joy of Sex'. But they don't know why their parents have all split up.

This modern look at adolescence rings sad but true. The `Rich Kids' of the title are smart in all of the commonly accepted ways and they are smart enough to realize that there is more to love than what they can see in their parent's sad relationships. In many ways it's the kids in this film that are acting like adults. Perhaps that's the point. Perhaps the `Rich Kids' of the title are not the two adolescents at all, but the adults that are complicating their lives.

Rich Kids is a wonderful movie, in so many ways. It depicts a time (the late 70's), a class, New York City, and divorce (which was then becoming a social phenomena) perfectly. However, the main reason to watch this film may very well be to see the then adolescent Trini Alvarado at her best.

The Cast is full of great actors, including John Lithgow and Canada's own Roberta Maxwell, but the standout is Alvarado. Her guileless and tender performance is so brilliant that one is almost hypnotized. Alvarado plays Franny as your typical adolescent girl - curious, too smart for her own good, a little daring - but lets her own qualities poke through, and makes her Franny seem somewhat frail, potentially tragic.

There is always a sense that Franny will crumble under the weight of bad news (like the announcement of her parents divorce), and in some scenes this sense fills the room. The other actors are electrified by this, and give wonderful performances. The scene in the Chinese restaurant - when Franny's parents finally break the news - is heart-breaking...and a little funny.

This is one of two Alvarado movies that are absolute Must See's. The other is Times Square, in which Alvarado once again plays a variation of the seemingly-emotionally-frail poor little rich girl. Once one sees both these movies, one realizes what a rare quality Alvarado had at the time. The only actress to compare is a young Sarah Jessica Parker, but by the time Parker was an adolescent she was too much of a board-trodding, song-belting, Broadway-trouper type to be able to let go and open herself up the way Alvarado could.

Watch Rich Kids with this in mind: you are watching a brilliant, unencumbered, child actor at work. Pure acting from an adult is rare enough, but from a child actor, it is priceless.

12-year-old Manhattan classmates, an intelligent boy and a girl from affluent backgrounds, must deal with their clucking, suspicious, embattled parents. The boy, new in school, is shuffled back and fourth between his bitterly-divorced mother and father, while the girl's parents are trying to conceal from her the fact they are all but officially separated. Faintly amusing comedy-drama wavers uncomfortably at times between satire and hard-shelled sentiment, with the portraits of the immature adults far too obvious. After 22 minutes of character introductions, I was still waiting for the movie to get started. The picture was lent some critical cache at the time because of Robert Altman's involvement as executive producer, though it was released four months after "A Little Romance" and may have confused moviegoers. These kids (Trini Alvarado and Jeremy Levy) are sexually curious, precocious and combative--no angels--and they provide the only interest in an otherwise parched scenario. ** from ****

Franny is 12 years old. She, unknowingly, is the glue that keeps her parents together. When she starts keeping tabs on her Dad, however, she begins to unravel the thread that we all dread, Mom and Dad aren't too happy with one another and they are not being honest with their little girl about it. So she starts learning about divorce from a new boy in school who has recently been through it. She realizes that kids have a maturity level that parents never will achieve. Thus said, the parents embark on an all out search for their daughter amidst the crazy world of a rich kid who has everything. His Dad lives in the most idyllic bachelor pad and doesn't dote on him, his mother is happily married to a psychiatrist cause she doesn't have to pay for the sessions. Ahhh the pleasures of divorce. Franny comes full circle with the acknowledgement of her fighting parents and that it's not her fault and they will love her no matter what. If you are a Robert Altman fan then this film is for you. If you like a good family film with a great score then this is for you. I saw it in the theaters in 1979 and have since loved it on every viewing. I wish this movie was on DVD, but for the time being look for it on Showtime or Encore in WS.

Probably woulda been better had producer Robert Altman not outsourced the screenplay and direction to the firm of Ross and Young. As it is we have warmed over Woody Allen; that is if Woody had decided to do teen pics. Solid C.