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Kidulthood (2006)

Director: Menhaj Huda

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4 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

Could first-time screenwriter Noel Clarke (an actor, last seen in ‘Dr Who’) cram any more sordid, spiralling misery into his slice-of-life script about schoolkids and street life in west London? Clarke and first-time director Menhaj Huda spin a frenetic story out of the lives of a group of 15-year-olds who attend the same west London comprehensive. There’s no need to recount here the manic ins and outs of Clarke’s busy plot other than to say that it’s defined by suicide, drugs, murder, unwanted pregnancy, casual sex, knives, guns, Yardies, bullying and fights. All of which certainly have their place in the kaleidoscope of experience of many young Londoners, but Clarke tries so hard to shoehorn every potential teenage pitfall into his overloaded screenplay that the effect is numbing, barely credible and sometimes quite laughable.

That said, ‘Kidulthood’ still tears along at a good pace (aided by music from The Streets, Shystie, Dizzee Rascal and other UK artists), never bores, and has a certain novelty value: the real language and habits of our capital’s streets hardly ever make it to the big screen. The film’s ultimate downfall, though, is that its makers’ hunger for authenticity means that it’s all about events, events, events. Sober characterisation and plotting fall by the wayside. The film’s adult characters are especially two-dimensional (a cartoon Yardie; a posh father; a mother who shouts ‘Please use a condom’ through the bedroom door; a camp shop assistant). And what’s with the title? It sounds like a desperate youth-marketing tag. Or maybe I’m just not down with the kidults?

Author: Dave Calhoun 2006-02-27 11:16:20

Time Out London Issue 1854: March 1-8 2006

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User reviews of this film

Amy said...

Posted on Apr 07 2009 16:57 this was amazin, heart warming and shocking at the same time. Told a great story with pleanty of twists and great acting from both the kids and the adults :)

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Jack said...

Posted on Mar 28 2009 17:36 Amazin film
Sad at end thoo

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sam said...

Posted on Jun 21 2008 18:56 trent this is a sick film.

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Trent said...

Posted on Jun 14 2008 22:00 Isn't the title sign enough? This film is about as subtle and well acted as... well, suffice to say it's rubbish. Truly bad. Almost to the point where it would be worth watching for a laugh, but sadly it's just depressing - in every sense. I really wanted to rate this zero, but that would appear as 'unrated' so a very generous zero then.

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