Wild Child

Plot synopsis:
Poppy Moore (Emma Roberts), an affluent Californian teenager, executes a wild prank to ruin all of her father's girlfriend's belongings in front of her friends, telling everyone to throw away whatever they want and take it for themselves. When her father Gerry (Aidan Quinn) arrives on the scene, he announces that he is sending her to a boarding school in England. Arriving at the school, Abbey Mount, Poppy meets the headmistress Mrs. Kingsley (Natasha Richardson), who she initially finds annoying, head girl Harriet Bentley (Georgia King), a tall, bossy girl who has two "friends" named Jane and Charlotte that she treats like slaves, who follow her around, fag for her and agree with whatever she says, and her "big sister" Kate (Kimberley Nixon). Poppy's entire suitcase is left out in the rain, soaking everything. She meets the Matron and orders her to wash, dry and iron all her clothes. This lands her entire dormitory of four other girls with three Sunday's detention, leaving her with no friends and her dorm mates expressing their hate to her. She is miserable in her new life, feeling that she does not fit in as an outsider.
After a small fight with Harriet in gym class, Poppy is called to the Headmistress' Office, where she is given a punishment; read a book. Sitting on a bench outside sulking, Harriet spots her and orders her "maid", an intimidated Year 7 student, to drench Poppy with dirty coffee-filled water that was being used to age Harriet's Keira Knightley costume for the school dance, but this ultimately results in Poppy and Kate starting to form a friendship. Revealing that the girls' mobile phones, confiscated earlier on, were always intended to be decoys, Kate lets Poppy use her actual phone to call her friend Ruby (Shelby Young) in the US. However, when Ruby sees Poppy's message, she is disgusted and it is revealed that Poppy's boyfriend, Roddy (Johnny Pacar), has been cheating on Poppy with her.
After Poppy reveals that her mother died several years ago in a car accident, her roommates decide to help her get expelled so that she can return home. Together they carry out several pranks which gradually bring them closer together. When none of their plans work, they decide to seduce the headmistress's son, Freddie, who is strictly forbidden from fraternizing with any of the girls. She dances with Freddy at the school dance, much to Harriet's dismay, but Poppy trips and hits her head. This prompts Freddie to take the concussed girl outside for air, where he asks her out on a date.
The next day, Poppy discovers her talent for lacrosse and whips the school's team into shape, getting them into the finals. On the date, Poppy finds herself falling for Freddie. They kiss before returning to school. Entering her room, Poppy finds her roommates reading an email supposedly sent by herself, expressing that she thinks all of her new friends are losers. She then finds that Freddie has been sent a similar email and is thereafter ignored by all of her friends. With no one else to turn to, Poppy sneaks down to the cook's room and calls Ruby. Ruby, however, accidentally reveals how much she dislikes Poppy and the fact that she is seeing Poppy's boyfriend. Feeling even more alone, Poppy starts playing with her lighter and accidentally sets a curtain on fire. Hearing footsteps, she quickly puts out the fire and runs off. A few minutes later, she looks out her window to see a fire and immediately wakes the school.
When they find that Drippy is missing, Poppy runs into the burning school to rescue her. After the fire is put out, Freddie finds her lighter and gives it back to her, refusing to listen to what happened. Just as she realizes that she no longer wants to leave, Poppy goes to the headmistress and confesses. Afterwards, she finds a portrait of her mother in the 1976 Abbey Mount lacrosse team and begins to cry upon realizing that her mother also attended the school.
While Poppy waits for the Honour Court to decide if she should be expelled, Freddie finds her crying and becomes convinced that the fire was an accident. During the hearing, Poppy tells her story. Meanwhile, her roommates find out that Poppy did not send the emails. Going to the Court, they stand up for Poppy and Harriet accidentally confesses to restarting the fire after Poppy had put it out; Poppy is absolved. Poppy's father comes to the game of the lacrosse finals, and is shocked by Poppy's dramatic change in appearance and how much she looks like her mother, also captain of the lacrosse team at Abbey Mount. Abbey Mount wins the lacrosse finals and Harriet is expelled. Some months later, Poppy and her friends (including Freddie) are shown relaxing in Malibu. Poppy ignores Ruby's phone calls, now fully aware that she was not the friend she thought she was. The film ends as they prepare to jump off the cliff that helped her towards finding herself and making proper friends.

Tags: prank

Review:
I guess Emma Roberts' more memorable role was taking on the iconic Nancy Drew character, but now she exchanges those sleuthing skills and good manners for spoilt brat antics.
Swinging from one end of the spectrum of an ideal kid to a spoilt and bratty one, her Poppy Moore character in Wild Child is a rich kid who has issues with discipline because she thinks she could get her way with her devil may care attitude and wads of cash.
With her relationship with her father going to the doldrums, she gets shipped off to an English boarding school in an effort to be schooled in the prim and proper, and thus sets up plenty of room for your typical fish out of water story.Naturally as the loner who stands out because of her rather uncouth behaviour and fashion sense, this was somewhat a throw back to The House Bunny, where the protagonist is clearly out of place, and remains to be seen if it is herself who would be assimilated into the norm, or if she could be the trend-setter and begin a serious case of behavioural osmosis.For starters, this is clearly chick flick territory, with all characters being girls (it's set in an all girls boarding school) and the only male supporting characters happened to be her dad (Aidan Quinn), the school principal's son Freddie (Alex Pettyfer) for romantic purposes, and Nick Frost who cameos as a small town hairstylist.
Or how Poppy is initially unwelcome by everyone in her dormitory because her stubbornness got them all detention, before they decide to assist her in a win-win situation - getting her expelled so that she could return home.Wild Child is surprisingly entertaining with a good story to tell, even though it's the usual about having friends for life versus the superficial ones that one tend to meet from time to time.
Written by Lucy Dahl, daughter of the renowned Roald Dahl, that credit alone provided some interest in this movie, despite the story and plot development being nothing unusual and being very predictable.But I guess predictability could still work if the ensemble cast delivered their roles convincingly, which they do, and with any movie that deals with friendship and one targetted at children, this is as plain sailing a movie as it can get - nobody dies, everyone becomes friends, tense situations get diffused amicably, and there's plenty of BFF-love to go around..
The film has an incredibly predictable storyline, the acting isn't great, most of it complete and utter non-sense and most of events in the film hold little to no purpose.I've gave it a high rating, however, because I don't think I've laughed quite as much at a film as I have at this one for a long, long time.
I spent a good hour or so crying of laughter, and I could't even catch my breath during the "I'm Spartacus" motif in the 'Honour Court' -- unintended comedy genius.While it's no Space Odyssey and has less character depth in the entire film than is seen in one minute of A Clockwork Orange, it is nevertheless worth the watch..
The cast doe an excellent job, with the teens carrying the movie pretty much themselves.The story line, though mostly predictable, is nicely delivered and felt honest.This is a great movie for families, or girls' night out!
Good Fun. OK, so this film isn't going to win any Oscars but it does deliver.I saw this film this evening with friends (we're 18) and we had a good laugh and a good time watching it.
Some of it#s content makes it quite a predictable teen movie but despite this the film is good fun and has some surprise moments.
We get to learn why she is this "wild child" in the opening scene, and why she's so mean and ignorant about other people.It all get slightly predictable towards the end...everything comes crashing down, Poppy's friendship is heading for breaking point, Freddie is angry with what Poppy has done, and she is on the brink of being kicked out of the school.
Her father sends her to a British boarding school in order to have her cleaned up."Wild Child" is a light hearted teen comedy.
It contains lot of things movies these days don't have, like friendship, how you feel a friend let you down kind of things.
And another thing about this movie is It's more real life than other movies I've seen like how characters behave kind of things and of course the movie casting Director had done a awesome job because the Actors and actresses fits well to the characters you'll definitely fell that when you are watching "Wild Child" movie.
There is the obligatory dressing up scene – Roberts's aunt had a legendary one in "Pretty Woman", but whereas erstwhile prostitute Julia/Vivien emerged as an elegant lady, Emma/Poppy goes from spoilt brat in super-high heels to pole dancer-prostitute look-and-act-alike.
Though to me, Emma Roberts looked too much like she's trying to "Addie Singer"-ed the role (yes I did watch Unfabulous, I have young cousins) and turned it Malibu.
A lot of dialogue was so utterly cringe worthy particularly from the protagonists 'British' friends, their performance was cardboard at lot of the time,I'm not sure what accent they are meant to have, I've never heard anyone anywhere in Britain sound anything like that, not even those from An upper class background, also the terminology they used is very peculiar, For example they used horridious when Horrendous would have fitted better, and not sure what hurrious is meant to mean as it does not appear to be a real word or slang.
I saw Wild Child recently and I felt Georgia King as head girl Harriet Bentley stole the film.
The end scene of Harriet being turned on by her formerly loyal friends added to this feeling of unease; Was Harriet really such a vile monster or like Poppy a teenage girl with her own issues and problems?
If you are about 11 and a GIRL NOT A BOY then it might not be a bad film to watch You may enjoy it.
Although the other youngsters do well in their roles, its Roberts who shines in every scene.She manages to be spoilt, funny, pretty and vulnerable all at the same time, and that's not easy to do in a script that doesn't seem to know whether its aiming for the teen or adult audience.There are some fun life lessons to be learnt here, and it certainly has its heart in the right place.
It's not worth wasting time asking questions about the plot, or thinking about the very cringy not funny moments featuring Jason Watkins, because this film really is all about fun.It's not surprising that Emma Roberts went on to do bigger and better things after this, because she's fab here..
The girl in "Wild Child" is a slanted measurement of a teenager really going off-the-rails, of course, but that isn't what the movie is all about.
Worth watching once with the right spirits to at least get till the middle of the movie, you'd start enjoying it from then.(sry about this ,..) the movies showcases a typical British boarding school, with a lot of minor details, very nicely written.
I've been in British influenced boarding school here in India, this movie got me thinking of the good o'l days.
I've been in British influenced boarding school here in India, this movie got me thinking of the good o'l days.
I've been in British influenced boarding school here in India, this movie got me thinking of the good o'l days.
Wild child is a very wonderful teen movie with a awesome story line...This film is full of cheesy goodness.
If you are looking for a young chick flick with a dash of romance, this one is a great choice.There were a lot unexpected twists in this movie that made it more than your regular romcomThe movie has a superb cast ,Emma roberts has done a great job I really had a great time watching it.Its a balance of Fun,Romance,Drama & Emotions ....
The movie starts off really dreadfully so I thought its going to be unbearable and Emma Roberts in her Blonde Wig and Snotty attitude was looking like a crap actress, she couldn't pull of the Bitchy attitude at all.
Emma Roberts tried to look like uptown girl but dressed like she is coming from 70s even if you ask me in 70s they dressed much better, she was in her own mediocre lead...
Overall a complete teen movie with otter mediocrity, so Trash it unless like me you also want to see Alex & Emma together!.
Okay, this may sound a bit morbid, but either this or 'Evening' are destined to become a classic.The last two films that Natasha Richardson completed, and in the circumstances, one is bound to become a classic - I am personally routing for Evening.This is an OK film - not great - but okay, Roberts and Pettyfer try their hardest, but it's a fairly attractive script, but with a weak director helming it - the results are not as they should be.In comparison to the likes of 10 Things I Hate About You, She's All That and Cruel Intentions which excelled in this sub-genre of Teen Flicks, this doesn't stand much of a chance - sorry!.
It's distracting.The main mean girl is ridiculous (Emma Robert's character calls her "horse face" in the movie and I gotta say...she isn't wrong) and I feel like Natasha Richardson was wasted in this role - very sad it was her last film before her tragic death.Nick Frost made good use of his short screen time.Aidan Quinn was wasted in this film but he did a great job as always with the small role he had.
He is looking more and more like Jude Law the older he gets.Overall this film is one you've seen many times before but it wasn't terrible.
Eventually they decide to work together to help Poppy get kicked out of school and back home.I'm sure the girls had fun making the movie.
Wild Child is a movie (I think) is aimed at young teenage girls who love watching girlie movies, well they're probably the only ones who will find this entertaining.
There's some promising new talent, good laughs and sweet lines in this delightfully cheesy romantic comedy.It's about a stereotypical Malibu Princess who annoys her father one too many times, resulting in her being sent away to an English Boarding school (much to her horror - the rain, the rain!).
The film is about her journey from spoilt brat to English Boarding school-girl.
If you're into Rom Coms and you're between 12 & 19 years of age I would definitely recommend this one for a good night in with the girls.+ there's some magnificent Alex Pettyfer moments ;)JUST WANT TO ADD - That there have been many complaints (mostly from British girls - of which I am) about the way British girls are portrayed in this film, but please rethink this and look at how Americans are treated!
Younger, female audiences will probably appreciate it a little better than me, but not by much.I don't know what's worse; watching lead character Poppy (Emma Roberts), a supposed rebellious Buddhist fashion queen of Malibu prance around for the first half of the movie playing the same "Eww!
Instead however, what Wild Child achieves is a sort of cartoon annoyance that's only real intent seems to be to rehash countless other similar stories whilst at the same time demoralising every act and line of dialogue that comes out of all the characters' mouths.
I love how she is a bad and yet a good girl at the same time and yes Emma has some moves to go with the new attitude.
The worst they say is the S word.It's nice watching beautiful people have fun.There are some funny moments.It's always awesome watching people get what they deserve.what's brilliant about this movie is that they know they won't get anything for it so they know they can just mess around, the only minor problem is that you know what's going to happen to Poppy the minute she starts an Email and a friend reminds her to sign off.Alex Pettyfer's so smoking it doesn't matter though.It won't win Oscars but it's sufficiently clever to entertain a 12-19 year old in the school holidays =].
Emma Roberts plays her character Poppy fantastically and really shows her development throughout the film.
"Wild Child" really conveys the struggles of teenage years for example the love story between Poppy, the Head Girl and Freddie, the headmistress' son.
Emma Roberts takes an extremely good part and makes the whole movie fantastic!
If you like movies with depth, characterisation, feeling, or good acting, then go see something else.
The story line is grating due to it being totally old hat and is made more irksome thanks to the bucket-loads of pathetic clichés - for example, while the British say stuffy old grace before chowing down on a plate of meat 'n' two veg, our American friends apparently favour a Buddhist chant before delicately picking at low-fat vegetarian entrées - and sadly the film is cursed with a hideous 'heroine', Poppy Moore, who is absolutely and utterly without charm - it is almost impossible to like her.
Wild Child makes behaviour like this seem desirable, and does so to revolting aplomb in a fairly short scene (the fact that this was possible just goes to show there was some intelligence behind the movie).
This film tells teenage girls, in no uncertain terms, that the way to be popular and desirable is to wear as little as possible and bust moves like a lap dancer.
Oh look, another one of those movies that takes a potentially fascinating story (A preppy American teenage girl ends up at a stuffy English boarding school) and excretes all over it!
plus the culmination of the whole 'will this poncy English twerp who I've fallen in love with after about three lines go out with me'.I was so excited I almost coughed up my own spleen.Some years ago now, I started watching Wild Child, only to give up a few minutes in because I knew it wasn't the film for me.Today, I literally got frogmarched into seeing it again, this time all the way through "Oh, give it a chance, you'll like it!
Wild Child is, in many ways, a typical teenage girl movie.
When Poppy finally figures out its not such a bad place because she has some good friends, a guy named Freddie (Alex Pettyfer) who likes her, and that her mother went to the same school she does not want to leave anymore.This movie is mostly a chick flick, but I've had my fair share of watching movies like this when it's hard to believe.
This time it is a teen aged spoiled girl sent to a posh English school.Emma Roberts, niece of Julia & daughter of Eric Roberts is an absolute delight, she eventually will be as talented as her Aunt & Father.We have the usual craziness & silliness that we find in all such comedies.Then of course all is redeemed usually by some sporting event, This time its Lacrosse.Nick Moore directed first time screenplay writer Lucy Dahl's serviceable script.Natasha Richardson in her final role is fine as the Headmistress & Alex Pettyfer is good as her teen-aged son.
On the outside, this movie just looks like any random teen girly drama/romance film.
Some of the things I liked about Wild Child is that the actors and actresses really did a good job on this.
Although in the beginning of this movie, Poppy is not a kind of girl any parent would want their child to follow, she becomes "better" when at Abbey Mount.
This movie has many themes, and among them are "true friends will always stand up for you, no matter what" (referring to the Honor Court scene)and "when stuck in any situation, make the best out of it, and it will go a long way." (referring to Poppy's overall journey throughout the year--at first she hates Abbey Mount, but then she gets to know everybody better and doesn't think it's so bad.
I also thought that all the girls where pretty, and Emma Robertson played a brilliant part of a spoilt Americain wild child I did not like Harriet, I thought, Just who does she think that she is??
It is about an American troublemaker, Poppy Moore, who is sent to an all girls boarding school in England.
Emma Roberts who as you may have known is Julia Roberts niece and she starred in another film that I own on DVD and liked called Aquamarine and Valentines Day. Here she plays a spoilt rich brat named Poppy Moore(donning a blonde wig before she ditches it for her natural look)who is sent off to boarding school in England as her father(played by Irish actor Aidan Quinn) is fed up of his daughters persona he decides to send her packing.
But when she meets a couple of girls there and falls for a hunky guy(played by Alex Pettfyer from Beastly) she realizes that its the best thing her father has ever did and also she discovers something at the boarding school that will change her life forever.Overall this was a good movie as it also stars the late Natasha Richardson(The Parent Trap,Maid In Manhattan) who plays the head mistress in the film.
Emma Roberts played her part perfect as the ditsy spoilt brat who thinks her life is on cloud nine and some bitchy chick set her up as she was fancying her boyfriend (who happens to be the head mistresses son).If you like teen comedies or high school movies about boys and all that stuff that teens love so much then check it out.