Kids (1995)

A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking and deflowering virgins.

Director:

Larry Clark

Writer:

Harmony Korine

Stars:

Leo Fitzpatrick, Justin Pierce, Chloë Sevigny

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Leo Fitzpatrick	...	Telly
Sarah Henderson	...	Girl #1
Justin Pierce	...	Casper
Joseph Chan	...	Deli Owner
Johnathan Staci Kim	...	Korean Guy (as Johnathan S. Kim)
Adriane Brown	...	Little Girl
Sajan Bhagat	...	Paul
Billy Valdes	...	Stanly
Billy Waldeman	...	Zack
Javier Nunez	...	Javier
Luis Núñez	...	Luis (as Luis Nunez)
Christian Bruna	...	Christian
Alex Glen	...	Alex
Chloë Sevigny	...	Jennie (as Chloe Sevigny)
Rosario Dawson	...	Ruby

Storyline

Disturbing, dark, low-budget independent film about teen-agers in New York City. The story focuses on Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a teen who has a goal to de-flower as many virgins as he can. When one of his old encounters discovers that she is H.I.V.-positive, after only one encounter with a guy, Telly remains undaunted.

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Plot Keywords:

virgin | rape | swimming in underwear | sexual abuse | first time sex | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 September 1995 (USA)

Also Known As:

Kids

Filming Locations:

New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$1,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$7,417,210

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$20,000,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Guys Upstairs, Independent Pictures (II), Kids NY Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Screenings were often picketed by protesters, especially in Britain, where parliament quickly denounced the film.

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Goofs

When Jennie and Ruby are talking while waiting in the clinic for their test results, Ruby's lips do not match the audio in one of the shots.

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Quotes

Club Kid: Don't you know tricks are for kids?

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Crazy Credits

At the end of the credits it says: "The book 'KIDS' is available from Grove Press and contains photographs from the film, production stills and the original screenplay." and "A portion of the proceeds from this film will be donated to teen crisis organizations."

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Alternate Versions

For the UK cinema version 59 secs was cut by the BBFC to remove shots of young Nick's chest being kissed by an equally young girl and images of a sleeping child during the sex scene between Casper and Jennie, as this footage contravenes the Protection Of Children Act. In August '99 the British Board of Film Classification awarded the film an 18 certificate for video distribution, but with 51 seconds of cuts. The same footage was removed and the scenes re-edited to avoid shots of the child, and this same version was later issued on DVD.

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Connections

Featured in Banned in the UK: 1995-1999 (2005)

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Soundtracks

Wrong Side of the Tracks
Written by Henry Anadon, R. Brown, W.E. Williams and T. Ray
Recorded by Artifacts
Courtesy of Big Beat Records
By Arrangement with Warner Special Products
Published by Fossil/Relic Music (BMI), Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp. obo Itself and T-Ray Music (BMI) and used by permission of ATV Music/Ana-Ross Publishing Co.,
Inc. (BMI)

User Reviews

"I Have No Legs...I Have No Plot...I Have No Likeable Characters...ching-ching-ching"

I hadn't watched this movie since it came out, over 5 years ago, but I was thinking today about the worst/most overrated movies I'd ever watched, and this one came to mind.

I remember at the time, when I was just in my second year of college, that I was getting into the heavy indie movie phase that everyone in college goes through. You'll see ANYthing that comes to the University theater.

Well, I had heard about KIDS well before it came to town. It was supposed to be this hardcore, hard hitting, realistic view of childhood in a big city with severe parental negligence. Everyone had said it was tremendous.

So, I happily went down the day it came to the 2nd run University indie theater and plunked down my $5.

I can say, quite honestly, that this was one of the most over-rated movies in the history of film. It was not just that it was a terrible movie that started nowhere and WENT nowhere, it had not ONE likeable character, and it was just plain stupid.

Whoa...kids using the word "f***"...what a stretch. How artistic. Give me a damn break.

*If you haven't seen it and don't want it spoiled, stop reading here.*

At the end, I don't know about you, but I was almost relieved that all the one-dimensional characters (everyone in the movie) weren't gonna make it. At least I could finally leave.

What an incredible waste of time.