Kids in Love

This is not a real review, it should be understood more as a collection of impressions on the film.

This film is terribly underrated because it is a classic romantic comedy for teenagers and in this it works very well. I really don't understand the low rating because the film is very entertaining from many points of view, the acting is really good and the plot, although banal, is really very well written and for a romantic film for young people it is really very beautiful. So let's say that it's true the film is banal and to enjoy it you have to overcome some gaps in logic, but apart from this the film personally seemed really extremely valid to me.

A festival of unlikable characters. Espouses the worldview that it's OK to turn your back on anyone who's ever supported you or made sacrifices for you, if you get a whiff of an exotic alternative lifestyle. Perfect for spoiled trust-fund babies who believe they don't owe anybody anything, and that nobody else *gets* just how windswept and interesting they REALLY are.

Rather than stay at a commune with them, I'd prefer to just dump them all on an island, and leave them stranded!

Having watched Kids In Love last night, and quite enjoyed it, I thought I would log onto IMDb and see what others thought of it. But nobody else had seen fit to review it. Nobody. Not a single review. And I thought that was rather unfair, so here I go.

It's not bad. The acting is solid, the script is pretty good and the characters, whilst not entirely likable, are developed reasonably well. So far, so-so. However, it is Will Poulter as the protagonist, Jack, that elevates the movie above the mediocre. He really is a credible actor these days, and I really enjoyed his performance in Kids In Love.

I guess, at its heart, Kids is basically a coming of age movie, but it has a lot of heart, and I genuinely cared that things would work out for Jack. However, I am not so sure about Alma Jadorowsky as the ethereal Evelyn. Yes, she is attractive, but I did not feel that she exuded the "je ne sais quoi" (it's okay, Evelyn is French) that the script demanded.

That said, the London locations are fun, and although things became a little predictable in the last twenty minutes (as these sorts of films generally do) I must confess that I was left with a smile on my face.

Undemanding, but enjoyable.

The movie is an interesting take on the coming of age novel. It is a bit too hard to relate to but still a great debut for the co writers. One of the co writers, Preston Thompson, who was only 18 and had never studied film, also did a great job in his acting debut in this film. The only major drawback is the completely unnecessary nudity in the sex scene.

What better contrast to those urban gritty dramas about young Londoners set in the tower blocks than Kids in Love which is about posh young Londoners living in Notting Hill or similar.

Will Poulter plays college student Jack taking a gap year, do some work and earn money to travel to south America with his friends.

Like a lot of teenagers he is unsure of what he wants to do with his life but he certainly does not want to do an internship in a law firm that his father has arranged.

What he does engage in is a bohemian lifestyle partying in London, taking drugs and having sex and falling out with his friends, because now he does not want to go travelling. This turn of events is caused by meeting French free spirited artist Evelyn (Alma Jodorowsky) who lives in a rundown Hackney townhouse with other alternative arty types such as Viola (Cara Delevingne) and Evelyn also has an on/off boyfriend who also might be a drug dealer.

Refreshing as it might be to see a different perspective of Londoners (the white middle class type.) There is little drama and little that happens in this coming of age tale where Jack's loyalties with his friends are tested. A good natural performance from Will Poulter is the only recommendation in this empty story.