Review of Kidulthood (2006) by Richie R — 13 Aug 2010

The debut feature of Noel Clarke is hardly up to the standard of his more recent movie, 4.3.2.1., lacking the depth of character and the great scripting which was behind that movie.

Kidulthood could be argued to be a much less glamourous movie, a more down and dirty look at youth life in London but given the sheer amount of drugs, sex and bad language crammed into it's less than 90 minute run time, it's difficult not to view it as anything other than a sensationalist, attention grabber.

Set around a day in the lives of a group of London teens, we gradually follow both girls and boys as they prepare for a party at an unsuspecting fellows house. This consists of fighting, lounging about, having sex with drug dealers, getting inducted into London mafia style warnings and generally being loathsome and unlikeable.

There is a poignant underlying story of a young couples turmoil over an unwanted pregnancy which is sadly marred by all the tabloid style excess going on around it and some of the characterisations ring only too true - Jamie Winstone as a bit of a cow is the stand out performance. Clarke certainly shows in some sequences the promise he has now achieved as a film maker, with the finale being extremely well shot.

Unfortunately, none of this can really get around the fact that Kidulthood just isn't all that well written, or all that interesting. There are no characters that we can truly invest in and the whole thing seems just a little bit far fetched and by the end, it's use of slang and swearing is just becoming rather tiresome.

Not Noel Clarke's best work by a long shot, but the moments of potential greatness are there at least.