Product: Kids (1995)
Rating: 4.0
Documentary-style drama
A minor classic, though flawed in its' inability to really provide clues as to why the stereotypically lost urban youth of today seem willing to take chances even the "worst" of previous generations wouldn't consider. AIDS, considered a modern day plague and one very avoidable for those who were not the unfortunate victim of a medical "accident", has no apparent meaning for Telly and Caspar, one not exactly college material, and the other his amoral and willing prodigy.The location photography is in the best tradition of hard, gritty films of the early '70s, like "Mean Steets" (DeNiro, Keitel) and "Born To Win" (George Segal and Karen Black; Robert DeNiro in a small supporting role).The scene at the clinic when Jennie learns she is HIV-positive is riveting to say the least. The Medical staffer tells it like it is to Jennie, who acknowledges the seriousness of her condition, but can't seem to manage her new responsibility in notifying Telly, or in making an abrupt change in her life style. She finds herself at another wild party and in no condition to block the advances of Caspar.The film took a bold step in focusing on heterosexual transmission at a time when the bisexual or homosexual community was unjustly identified as solely responsible for the spread of this disease. The problem with using this movie as a teaching tool, however, is that Jennie is the only sympathetic character, among the "older" kids, who should know something about the risks of certain behaviours.Very strong performances, and subtle direction should have made this effort a cult classic, presuming it doesn't have that status.