Kid

My review was written in April 1991 after watching the movie on Live video cassette.

C. Thomas Howell makes the transition from teen heartthrob to screen tough guy with okay results in "Kid", a routine vengeance melodrama that is being released directly to the video market Stateside.

Lesle Bohem's well-designed but highly derivative script recalls elements of Eastwood Westerns as well as John Sturges' "Bad Day at Black Rock".

Howell breezes into the small town of White Brush in a mythic cloud of dust. As flashbacks reveal, he returned to avenge his parents' murder by so-called respectable townsfolk.

Howell is a convincing antihero who systematically kills the villains in creative ways. He falls in love with young dreamboat Sarah Trigger whose father predictably turns out to be one of the murderers.

Blessed with a good cast, including reliable R. Lee Ermey as a particularly hissble sheriff, film sufers from an unconvincing finale. Also annoying is Tim Truman's repetitive music that fails in its attempt to conjure up Ennio Morricone's grandiose Western scores.

Kid starring C. Thomas Howell is a High Plains Drifter modern knockoff and while it will never stand comparison to the Clint Eastwood classic it's not a bad film on its own.

We never know what Howell's real name is, but he's come to a sleepy, modern western town complete with the same long coat that Clint Eastwood wears and starts targeting a few of the town's citizens for demise. Trust me however, Howell's got a very good reason for wanting this. The only problem is with the last guy on his list, Dale Dye. He's away from town when Howell first arrives and the two people who befriend him are his children, Sarah Trigger and Brian Austin Green in his pre-90210 days. It doesn't detract from his main mission.

The ending is rather lame, it doesn't really holdup given the character motivation that is established for Howell. Still Kid is not a bad film and the western scenery is just fine.

A neo-Western with the charismatic C. Thomas Howell surpassing his other notable performances as Ponyboy in The Outsiders and the lawyer/volleyball stud in Side Out. Kid will always have a spot on my video shelf as I caught it back in the day while I was still in the early years of High School and I loved it then and love it now. It even has David Silver as an outdated Metalhead who speaks in 80s cliches, and the gorgeous older sister who makes washing a horse look like the most appetizing chore this side of the Mississippi. Topping off the cast is the drill Sergeant from Full Metal Jacket and Dale Dye, both adding credibility to what could have been an otherwise cheap Cinemax snooze-fest. A lean, well-paced and sometimes laughable "flick" that could have benefited from a more intense climax, but works very well within its own means.

"Kid" is one of those movies where you're not going to be mesmerized by the acting or script; instead, it pulls you in with its scenery of beautiful Arizona, the music which is something out of a "80'S Hair Metal" CD, and by the story itself. Haven't we all wondered just a little about growing up with no family...always having to rely on no one but yourself? An interesting thought to me anyways. Each time I watch it I go back in time to a time when my family was still together and I took my teen-age freedom for granted. Although we never learn what C Thomas Howell's actual name is, we don't need to. Plenty of great fight sequences and around-the-corner suspense make this movie a must-own for anyone who didn't know the best years of their life would be the 80's until they were 30.

This has become one of my favorite movies. This is partly because I am the biggest C. Thomas Howell fan out there. The plot: young man comes back to get revenge on the people who killed his parents when he was still a kid. The scene of their death is so sad. This movie makes you laugh, cry, and grab the edge of your seat. The inside joke with the dog is really cute. The romance between the Kid and the leading lady (Sarah Trigger-terrific job) is so sweet. Even though I don't believe in getting revenge, especially when it has to do with murder, I felt very sorry the main character. It shows a great sign of talent a viewer feels compasion for a character whether or not that person agrees with the action he/she takes in the movie. Rent it, buy it, see it. You won't be sorry.