alan_hart

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.

It has just occurred to me that the title refers not only to the protagonist's journey through the wild, but also to her wild antics prior to setting out on her journey. Go me! Anyway, "Wild" has to be one of my favourite movies of the last couple of years. Firstly, Reece Witherspoon is an absolute revelation. She totally nails the part of a lost soul embarking upon an epic journey in order to rediscover her spiritual mojo. Witherspoon is one of those actresses that seems to have been around for a long old time without ever really catching the imagination, but here she gives wonderfully gutsy performance showing just the right balance between defiance and vulnerability. And she's hot, too. To be fair, she probably isn't what you might call a dead ringer for the real Cheryl Strayed, but I can live with that. Secondly, the cinematography - those North American landscapes - wow! If watching this movie doesn't make you want to get off your backside and go hike the PCT, I'd seriously check for a pulse. Okay, so most of us will never do it (me, included) but I'd be lying if I said I hadn't done some internet research in the PCT since watching "Wild". Now, I'll admit that "Wild" doesn't have much of what you might call a plot. It is the story of one woman's journey of self-discovery, and the various characters she meets along her way are all pretty much incidental. Hence I accept that it won't be everyone's cup of tea - certainly if you prefer a more pacey, plot-driven type of movie then "Wild" may not be for you. But if you enjoy a wonderful (and funny) central performance and sumptuous landscapes, you won't find many better. Witherspoon fully deserved her Oscar nomination, in my opinion, and would have been a worthy winner. Superb.