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Dom Robinson reviews
Momentum Pictures
- Cert:
- Cat.no: MP038D
- Running time: 87 minutes
- Year: 1995
- Pressing: 2001
- Region(s): 2, PAL
- Chapters: 18 plus extras
- Sound: Dolby Surround
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: 1.85:1
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: Yes
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £19.99
- Extras: Trailer
Director:
- Larry Clark
Producer:
- Cary Woods
Screenplay:
- Harmony Korine
Music:
- Lou Barlow and John Davis
Cast:
- Jennie: Chloe Sevigny
Telly: Leo Fitzpatrick
Kim: Michele Lockwood
Ruby: Rosario Dawson
Girl #1: Sarah Henderson
Casper: Justin Pierce
“Virgins: I love ’em. No diseases. No loose-as-a-goose pussy. No skank. No nothin’. Just pure pleasure”.
Those are the words of irresponsibility uttered by Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), just one of the many ‘kids’ of the title, all of whom look underage but those who take part in a bit of how’s-yer-father certainly are over the legal limit and couple that with some convincing acting.
There’s no plot as such. The film pans out like a docusoap as we watch them talk about their experiences, the boys brag to their friends and two of the girls, including Jennie (Chloe Sevigny), pay a visit to the clinic to count the contractions – not in terms of getting pregnant but in the total number of infections they’ve picked up along the way. I don’t know which left a knot in my stomach first: Ruby (Rosario Dawson) talking in a blase fashion about the number of times she’s had unprotected anal sex, or her doctor casually slurping tea while asking the question.
There are many other disturbing scenes, plus a few hilarious moments performed in an off-the-cuff fashion such as when Telly and a friend rob the Deli store and when they play around with tampons.
Kids is a film you must see, but unless you’re a die-hard fan, what comes next will put you off buying this disc.
The 1.85:1 widescreen print is clear of artifacts but loses impact on a widescreen television because it’s not anamorphic. The average bitrate is 5.90Mb/s, briefly peaking over to 9Mb/s.
The soundtrack is Dolby Digital 2.0 (Dolby Surround) but is used for dialogue only. There’s nothing here to test your speakers, so it wouldn’t really command a DD5.1 remix.
When it comes to extras all we’re offered is a 95-second trailer which you’ll watch once only.
Given the lack of extras and a non-anamorphic picture, if you’re going to watch this film again and again then try and get it for a tenner.
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS
OVERALL 
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.