THE KID review

The Kid is a true story of one who rises from abject poverty to stability and success, although it is not the typical Hollywood rags to riches tale.

The opening sees Kevin (Rupert Friend in a cagey nuanced performance) thrown out of the back of a van, hobbling towards a filthy bedroom as the credits are projected on each surface as graffiti. He attempts suicide with a smattering of pills, washing them down with spirits, he reflects on his life; his earliest memory of abuse. As a child right through adulthood Kevin is dealt a terrible hand and as he tries to survive and make something out of himself, things always get in the way, including the after-effects of his traumatic past.

We are taken through the Lewis household, squalor, a proliferation of unwanted children and filthy rooms, much like Shameless the smash hit UK television show, only completely humorless and undeniably tragic, like the crack den in Trainspotting. The mother Gloria (Natascha McElhone) and not the father is the culprit and there are a few brutal scenes where, for no real reason, young Kevin is beaten senseless. Natascha seems to be hamming it up as the loud and foul mother, but as the basis of a completely true story, the reality of her was probably stranger than the fiction. The off-screen violence is a staple of cinema lately, intended to create a stronger feeling or shock as the imagination takes over, but in The Kid, this is used to minimal effect.

The pacing flies as Kevin ages and life goes on around him. In fact Nick Moran, the director has given Kevin's life a universal focus and the progress of Britain from the seventies to the nineties is on display through a series of colorful montages. Kevin's abuse is revealed and while still underage he gravitates through various adoptions, particularly a children's home where he grows enough to realize how wrong his situation is. Kevin's performance is ultimately at its peak when he is a teenager (played perfectly by Augustus Prew), as he drifts through life, ignorance is bliss, ignoring the constant abuse from his mother which is a mark of shame, and being completely antisocial to everyone at school, which of course leads to further bullying through his inaction.

It is his handsome teacher Mr. Smith (Ioan Gruffudd) who puts him in detention for his disinterest, only to realize through a nice pastiche that he is in there day after day, as the colorful mix of students come and go. He inevitably snaps, and jarringly is removed from his circumstances to live in relative stability with a nice old couple. They introduce him to proper schooling and boxing, where he becomes proficient in both. A quick school trip completely influences him to quit school and invest in the stock market, unaware of the possibility of risk but always confident he continues to survive, living outside his foster parent's home. Tragedy strikes and he inevitably finds himself in multitudes of debt, and begins to work for his foster fathers friend Uncle David (Bernard Hill), doing seedy and questionable jobs just to pay the mortgage, this includes underground boxing which he is particularly good at, through the trope of putting his anger into each fight.

As an adult Kevin continues to drift through his life, still in a state of stasis, closing his senses to everything around him with classical music. When he cannot cope, Kevin hits rock bottom, leading back to the first scene in the film and the relevant flashbacks explaining his life, leading to this revelatory point where everything changes.

The Kid has been described as feel-good and uplifting, but it really is neither. The first half is gritty realism and the second bizarre happenstance and if you ignore the morals and ethics, you can justify a happy ending. This is once again based on a completely true story, a book within a book as the film even explores Kevin's book deal. This is all very cliché, but appropriate considering the tone of the film to this point. The ultimate lesson The Kid gives us is that power comes from the barrel of a gun, thanks Chairman Mao, unfortunately that particular image is not very inspirational, but this is the violent and criminal choice Kevin makes when he hits rock bottom.

The Kid is a good film, and the amount of horrible punishment he faces in his life actually justifies his final decision, even though all loose ends are conveniently tied, there are far too many clichés and over-acting, and general movie tropes, The Kid still demands attention as a tragic but bizarrely empowering story.

Nick Moran, formerly actor, new to the director role, has done a solid job with the adaptation and with help from Kevin Lewis himself has ensured The Kid is a faithful and grounded retelling.