Kids

When I saw this movie I was 13 years old, and back then I manage to understand the message that the movie was trying to send.

Sometimes it doesn't have to be a "why" or a "how" for people get in this kinda life, you just have to grow up in the middle of it...

This movie is all about life, the feeling of emptiness you get near the end credits, and you start to think how did the world become so messed up.

Maybe nowadays kids are much more informed and have different perspective of the real world, back in 95 I dint have a clue, and Kids kinda open my eyes a bit...

Larry Clark has broken the boundaries with this film. Not only is it one of the realist depictions of our nation's youth, but it also brings the fear of the AIDS virus closer to home. This is not a piece of fictitious work, this is brutal honesty in its rawest form. While many will knock this film because of the pornographic nature, I saw past that and witnessed the birth of the next plague. Writer Harmony Korine has taken the world of our children and transferred it to the big screen. I never once saw this as a shock film or disgusting, I saw honesty and truth behind every scene. This is really what is happening in our backyards. Kids are not as young as they used to be, and are growing up in a world with more possibilities and distractions than ever before. This is the modern world, and these are the newest leaders.

While this is not what happens with all of our youth, it does paint a beautiful picture of just a handful. This is not just a story about NYC, it is a message for every city. This is happening all over this country. In the wealthy, poor, and everything in-between, our children are experimenting without any form of education or realization of their actions.

This is not a film that will leave a very good taste in your mouth, but then again it isn't supposed to. This is better and more honest than any reality program out there and it will scare the daylights out of you. This is our world, we must change it.

Grade: ***** out of *****

At first this just may seem like a pointless slice of 24 hours in a teenager's life, but upon closer viewing it's points become very clear. The sex scenes are rather drawn out and some of the situations are very disturbing and very graphic, but there really is kids like this in real life. Film manages to make important statements about safe sex or avoiding sex all together, rape, and parental involvement. It's raw and it's shockingly realistic in it's treatment. A very important film.

A crazed teenager (Leo Fitzpatrick) just wants to skate, slack and have sex with young virginal girls. What he does not know is that he is carrying HIV and infecting all those he happens to bed. Classmate Chloe Sevigny learns she is one of the unlucky victims and attempts to find Fitzpatrick before he sleeps with anyone else. Of course Fitzpatrick and best friend Justin Pierce (about as rotten a kid as his pal) move all around the city and are near impossible to track down as we see teenagers on an endless ride of sex, drugs, parties and general mischief. "Kids" is one of those films that ultimately falls due to the fact that it wants to shock and disgust rather than educate and convince. Thus we have a movie that has very little upside. It quickly becomes a cheap way to make society wonder if this could actually be going on in our nation. By the finale, the primary characters were all so backwards and out of their element that I was numbed by the experience and had no legitimate feelings for any of the teenage players (this by the way is not a good thing). Pierce, admittedly a potential talent, committed suicide a few years after this was released. 2.5 out of 5 stars.

A group kids in NYC run wild in a world without adult supervision. Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick) loves to deflower virgins. One of the girls he deflowered in the past is Jennie (Chloë Sevigny). She and her friend Ruby (Rosario Dawson) go to do a STD check. Ruby is clean but Jennie tests positive for HIV despite having had sex with only Telly.

I remember this was edgy at the time. It still is seeing this after 20 years. It has the documentary feel and mostly unknown amateur actors which only adds to its realism. Both Leo Fitzpatrick and Chloë Sevigny are amazing. I do forget that this is also Rosario Dawson's debut. Some of the other kids also put out raw performances. Harmony Korine's script has a real authenticity to it.