Review of Kids in America

Introduction

You know something isn`t right when the cover image of a DVD brings a minor part-player to the front in a last ditch attempt to shift some units. That can be the only explanation for promoting Nicole Richie (in cheerleader gear) to the centre-stage here, despite the fact that she plays only a peripheral role.

Despite being a well-intentioned, right-on kind of a movie, this is (to use the vernacular) an absolute stinker. That might explain why it skipped a theatrical release and ended up going straight to DVD.
It`s also getting some heavy promotion here in the UK with full-page adverts appearing in all the magazines that my teenage daughters have brought into the house, which means there are going to be some disappointed buyers of this turkey.

The movie is about high-school kids taking a stand against some very conservative and reactionary edicts from their uptight right-wing female principal, particularly round the issue of free speech.

But it`s unconvincingly contrived from the outset, despite being `based on a true story`, and fails to gather pace to sustain interest, leaving my daughters bored rigid and thoroughly disappointed by the 30 minute mark. And it gets worse.
When the Principal of the school (Julie Bowen) expels students for handing out condoms to promote safe sex, and for producing film work about female castration (with a level of detail not befitting a movie marketed as a fluffy-teen-flik), the students begin to push back.

Principal Weller is running for State Office and won`t let any protestations mar her impeccably conservative record. In short - shut up or get out.

With a little moral inspiration from their black, documentary making teacher and mentor, Mr. Drucker (Malik Yoba), the Kids soon get mighty righteous and form a coalition of chaos, getting ready to stage a series of protests against the silencing might of their fascistic Head. They start out with some fairly unimaginative protests, but wind up lighting fires and organising mass same-sex kissing marathons to make their point.

The movie straddles a mix of serious rumination and comedy, though neither works and the mix is a wriggingly uncomfortable one. There isn`t a trace of irony, for example, when one young couple discuss all the wrongs of the world together before cranking up the engine of their gas-guzzling 4 by 4 and driving off with an air of supreme righteousness.

The movie is full of predicatble stereotypes too, from the fey gay to the pervy-geek, to the bright beauty to the cheerleading glam-puss.

It`s also notable that there are many references to other movies in this film including the bid for the longest ever screen kiss over the closing credits.
Right at the end of the movie we are introduced to some talking heads stuff featuring the `real` kids in America - the ones that inspired the story. Like most `real life` characters, they come across a drearily normal with pretty unexciting tales to tell.

Video

Acceptably OK.

Audio

Unremarkable but perfectly adequate. Unusually for a teen-flick, its soundtrack was fairly uninspiring though

Features

Feature Commentary By With Director Josh Stolberg and Cast: Life is really too short to spend another 90 minutes in the company of this movie. I did my bit though and listened to as much as I could. Interesting to hear about the struggle to get a lower rating to get the movie in front of its intended target audience, though hardly surprising that there was a struggle in the US as some of the dialogue is (unnecessarily) near the mark.

Making Of: Standard Production fayre with little or no background on the events that inspired the movie. Dull and to be avoided.

Theatrical Trailer: This tries its hardest to make the film look zany and fun, though is a confusing hodge-podge of a trailer that doesn`t really reflect the real deal. Don`t be fooled!

Conclusion

`Kids in America` will be a big disappointment to most its intended audience, not least because of the relentless marketing of the movie as a `crazy teen pic` in the `American Pie` mould. It`s a long way from that.

The movie started out as a serious attempt to retell the true story of a school which decides to take on its reactionary, near-fascistic head teacher through protest, with the issue of free-speech at its core.

I suppose commercial pressures endured and the movie ended up trying to straddle both approaches with the net result that nothing works. From a serious perspective it fails on all counts, being a cringingly hollow and self-righteous affair. From a comedy perspective this will do little more than inspire a yawn.

Its only saving grace may be the small amount of romance injected into the plot and its claim to have the longest ever screen kiss running over the end-titles. At least we can give it that.

Finally - don`t be fooled by the cover. There`s precious little of Nicole Richie in the movie. Though why anyone would see that as a negative thing is beyond me.

A dud that should be avoided at all costs.