Full Review: Kids (1995)

People in the Movie:  Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloe Sevigny

Director:  Larry Clark  

Pigeonhole:  Drama / Indie

The Basics:  An indie film that takes a raw look at a day in the life of teenagers in New York City.  Telly (Fitzpatrick) and Casper (Pierce) spend their day looking to have sex with teen girls they know from around the neighborhood, as well drinking and smoking marijuana throughout.  Jennie (Sevigny) learns that she HIV positive and spends her day trying to find the boy who infected her.  The movie looks and feels almost like a documentary with the camera work and dialogue, but it is not.   

Recommendation: Understandably a very polarizing film due to the subject matter.  I personally hold it in high regards, and recommend seeing it.   I have seen the same version of the film called both NC-17 and unrated, either way, I would urge caution with younger teens.

My Take: Eye-opening is the phrase I would use to best describe this film.  Seeing these urban teens defiling themselves with a seemingly invincible (or maybe more like completely apathetic) attitude was a wake up call to this former suburbanite.  Yes, the movie is a work of fiction, but based on real people (according to the writer), and the production very much made the on-screen product feel all the more genuine.  

**spoiler alert** The opening scene is Telly talking a very young looking 13 year old girl into having sex with him.  We also learn this girl is a virgin, and that Telly “prefers” this.  Meanwhile his friend Casper sits on the stoop of the apartment building drinking beer and reading a comic book.  Telly soon exits the building having finished his conquest for the morning; he and Casper then proceed to walk through the city for more debauchery, thievery, substance abuse and eyebrow raising conversations with other delinquent friends of theirs.

The movie flips between the activities of Telly and Casper, and the other “lead” Jennie.  We are introduced to Jennie and her friend Ruby (Rosario Dawson) as they and 2 of their friends are hanging out, discussing sexual encounters they have had, and why they like sex.  Their conversation is equally as raw as the same discussion going on across town with Telly, Casper, and an apartment full of their buddies.  Jennie and Ruby proceed to a local clinic where they have previously had blood drawn to check themselves for STD’s.  The irony (of course) is that Ruby reveals she has had risky unprotected sex with multiple partners and she is STD free, while Jennie, who has only had sex with Telly learns she is HIV positive.  Jennie, very distraught, then begins searching for Telly, presumably to inform him he is HIV positive.

Telly and Casper continue along their day’s expedition and; steal money from Telly’s mom, go to a skateboarding park to smoke a blunt, beat a kid unconscious for disrespecting them, hook up with a few friends, break into a private pool for a swim, and make their way to that night’s party.  Jennie ventures around hitting most of the spots Telly and Casper were hours before and ending up in a rave where she takes a home-made rave drug (similar to ecstasy), before ending up at the aforementioned party.

The finale:  we see this party where pre-teens are smoking weed, Telly working his way into the pants of his next virgin victim, and many other guys and gals trying to make out with each other, as well as being in various states of intoxication.  Jennie shows up, still loaded on the drugs from the club, and sees Telly having sex with another girl, so she walks away to pass out on a couch – without saying anything, but still distraught.  The scene cuts and Casper wakes up in the bathtub, and gets up to wander through the apartment seeing everyone passed out.  He sits down next to Jennie, still passed out, pulls off her pants and has sex with her – and yes, since she did not consent, it is rape.   The scene cuts again, we see Casper wake up and utter “what happened?”

Final Thought/Extras/For Fun:  This movie has a great soundtrack that I would recommend giving a once over, even if you choose not to watch the movie…