Product: Kids (1995)
Rating: 3.0
Not As Bad As I Expected
Even though 'KIDS' wasn't as graphic as I feared it's still extremely disturbing and hard to watch. I think that's to be expected of any film that begins with a rape and ends in a double rape. Even with all of its disgusting situations, the film has a lot going for it. It serves as a cautionary tale about the life- threatening dangers of having unprotected sex. Plus, it features the film debuts of Leo Fitzpatrick, Chloe Sevigny and Rosario Dawson.Taking place over the course of a hot summer day in New York, the film focuses on two groups of teens. In the first group is Telly (Fitzpatrick) and best friend Casper (Justin Pearce). In the second group is Jenny (Sevigny) and her best friend Ruby (Dawson). Telly is the self-proclaimed "virgin surgeon" who delights in sharing the very graphic details of his conquests with Casper. The language in this film isn't just vulgar it's downright disgusting and in terrible taste. At one point, Casper jokes about his cousin having rough sex with a handicapped girl. Telly's goal is to de-virginize as many girls as he can. On this particular day his goal is to have sex with two virgins in the same day. Telly even has a victim picked out - the younger sister of one of his and Casper's friends. While Telly and Casper stalk the streets stealing, drinking, fighting and getting high, on the other side of town Jenny, one of Telly's previous conquests, accompanies Ruby to a clinic where both girls get tested for STDs. While Jenny has only been with Telly, Ruby has had unprotected sex with at least 9 guys. This makes things all the more shocking when Jenny tests positive for HIV while Ruby passes with a clean bill of health. A distraught and devastated Jenny sets out on all day and all night quest to find Telly and tell him before he passes on the virus to some other unsuspecting girl.The film is shocking in its depictions of kids as young as 12 smoking, drinking, taking hits off pipes and having unprotected sex. There is a scene in a skate park where Telly, Casper and a large group of their friends, after scoring some grass, beat the hell out of a black man who yelled something at Casper. The movie is full of these kinds of disturbing moments during which director Larry Clark lets his camera linger for unbearable lengths of time. 'KIDS' crosses the line constantly and is often too much to handle, but it's admittedly well made and well acted. When the film was released in 1995 it may have been "a wake up call" as many critics claimed but over the years, with the increasing popularity of reality TV and other films focusing on teens, 'KIDS' feels somewhat tame. There aren't any new revelations when it comes to teens, who don't hold back, experimenting with sex and drugs. Instead the film shows the timeless dangers of kids, often with low self-esteem, being extremely vulnerable to peer pressure and how deadly the consequences can be if they succumb to it. It's a well made film that, no matter how disturbing, is worth seeing at least once in your life.