King Kelly

Be prepared to hate King Kelly.

The character, that is, not the movie. Though possibly the movie too, depending on your tolerance for movies about spoiled brat kids with an unbearable sense of entitlement and a nonexistent grasp of reality and the consequences that come from behaving badly. You might also hate it if the idea of a movie filmed entirely on iPhones in shaky first-person and extreme close up sounds obnoxious. And if there is anything about "King Kelly" that tested my patience, it was this stylistic conceit that's been done to death and stops making narrative sense 10 minutes into the film. It's just not plausible that characters, even characters as obsessed with themselves as the ones who populate this movie, would be able to continue filming each other in any number of the situations in which they find themselves. Those situations include a car accident, a queasy sexual encounter with a state trooper and a shooting, along with lots of running around trying to track down a lost package of drugs.

Other reviewers seem to be responding to "King Kelly" as if it's a zany satire not to be taken too seriously. But if this film was meant to be funny, it's attempts failed miserably, because I found it to be more akin to a horror movie than a screwball comedy. It's not a great film, but it does tap into something very authentic about the current world culture of self-made celebrity, in which people with no talent and nothing really interesting to say or relate can pretend to be the famous person they'd rather be by posting every last thought and action on the Internet for the world to see. It's a deeply depressing trend, one that highlights just how bored people are with their lives and how desperate they are to be seen and heard, no matter for what reasons.

Grade: B+

This starts of pretty raunchy and sexual, but goes on to tell us a story. Some might be put off (no pun intended) by the way this is shot (Found Footage style). The main character is also very annoying (that's the point). It's also does shed light on the internet craze and what teenagers dream about or go through.

It might not be the best example of a movie trying to educate and tell people what is going on. Someone like "King Kelly" also won't be educated on things or what she might possibly be doing wrong. Not by her family nor by her friends. The ego is bigger than this. So big, that it won't mind sacrifices (of any kind) ... Illusion is real

It is difficult to review this movie without spoilers because it is so disjointed.

The opening scene is an extreme closeup showing only the audio and text of an online sex chat between teenage Kelly and various older men that are paying for the privilege of watching Kelly "perform" for them. But this scene is deceptive because it's not what the movie is about. It is merely to introduce you to the life of a young girl that is pure "id" (or "superego") caring only about herself.

Kelly wants to "go pro" by starting a webcam site of her own, but again, that's not what the movie is about.

Early on, we are introduced to Kelly's dysfunctional White Trash family for some insight on just why young Kelly is so troubled.

Friends, family, everyone that gets sucked into Kelly's self-involved world ends up worse for it. Following a falling out with her on-again/off-again boyfriend, Kelly finds herself in a world of trouble, turning to one of her online clients for help. Things continue to spiral out of control and you are taken for a ride on one of the worst nights of anyone's life.

The acting isn't awful, and despite an amateurish script, is worth watching till the end, but don't go looking for "King Kelly" on Oscar night.

This is my favorite movie to come along since Memento. It is labeled as a comedy, but although there are hilarious scenes throughout, much of the movie is very intense, bordering on unpleasant.

Yeah, yeah -- there's the T&A, but there's something more important here. What makes the movie for me, is that it is thoroughly and absolutely realistic. I have known selfish and manipulative people like Kelly (guys as well as girls), and I'm certain you have as well. I suspect that some of the negative opinions of this movie are really people instead mad at the character of Kelly, and that is because at no time while watching it will you realize that these are all actors reciting a script.

The acting is so good that it creates an effective illusion that you are watching it all take place from someone's cell phone. The story is entirely plausible, the drug scenes are realistic, and I can imagine that something like this actually happened, even the part about the cop.

This movie is definitely not for everyone. If you are entertained by the blockbuster special-effects-fantasy-superhero movies that Hollywood manufactures, you may not appreciate a movie in which there are no good guys to root for; a movie with no special effects and no happy ending. No one falls in love and rides off into the sunset as sentimental music swells up on the soundtrack.

I'm amused that the credits list the lead actresses as "cameramen," but even if it wasn't shot entirely on an iPhone, the scenes are effectively done.

If you are not averse to a dose of reality in a movie, here's a slice of not-so-squeaky-clean life among youth in suburbia.

Highly recommended for the cynical.

I'm not a big fan of the "caught-on-camera" genre. It may be the lingering-like-a-stale-fart influence of "The Blair Witch Project," or more likely the pernicious influence on-going "reality" TV craze, but most of these films, where everything is supposedly being captured on video by characters in the movie, fail miserably, even when the characters are actually INTENDING to document their entire lives on video like the protagonist, "King Kelly", is here. The problem is people don't act the least bit "real" when they know a camera is on them, but often take on the exaggerated persona of a bad actor in very bad and very annoying soap opera. I also think few realize that these "unscripted" or "reality" TV shows are actually filmed with many cameras and heavily edited to capture all of the alleged drama and none of the boring parts. That wouldn't realistically happen with someone spontaneously filming their every moment. Some stuff captured here would end up off camera and there would no doubt be a lot of other boring stuff in between.

On the plus side, I was impressed with lead actress Louisa Krause who creates perhaps the sexiest AND most annoyingly stupid young female character I've seen in recent memory. "Kelly" is a budding internet porn star trying to create her own "King Kelly" website. She goes around crapping all over her family and friends and generally acting like spoiled, overly obnoxious middle-class princess well on her way into the world of prostitution. The main "drama" here involves her ex-boyfriend stealing her car, which happens to have $20,000 of heroin in the trunk that she didn't know about. (What idiot drug dealer would entrust a shipment to a total moron like this?). That part reminded of an interview I once saw with "celebrity" porn star Katie Morgan where she claimed she got into porn to hide out from her associates after a drug smuggling arrest (I'm sure they'll never figure out she's a porn star now). I suspect Morgan is putting on an act because no one is that stupid in real life, but "Kelly" in this movie manages to be even more stupid and obnoxious than any real-life porn or "reality" (or "reality" porn) star could ever be.

She is also sexier than any real porn star (none of whom have Krause's degree of acting talent). She starts out the movie doing her solo act on-line (although since this is NOT a porn movie, the director chooses to pan over to the lewd comments of the guys watching her when the action heats up). She then has her friend film a memorable wet t-shirt scene. The most amazing scene though (for several reasons) might be where she films herself rubbing her American-flag-panty-clad ass all over her father's birthday cake! (I think the American flag panties and the fact the whole film takes place on the Fourth of July might be some kind of statement on America, but I'm not sure). Interestingly, Krause's most notable previous role was playing an underage amateur prostitute in the satirical black comedy "The Babysitters". Here she has moved to playing a "barely legal" amateur prostitute in another satirical black comedy. She has an undeniable talent, but I think she may be getting a little bit typecast. . .