Kids in America movie review & film summary (2005)
Yes, all of that, but I'm making it make it sound too serious. This is also a comedy that bites, and a romance during which a boy and a girl fall in love while they are engaged in an experiment to reproduce movie kisses. They start with the greatest movie kiss of all time, which he thinks is the one between John Cusack and Ione Sky in "Say Anything," the kiss in the rain that lasts about three seconds and you almost miss it. When Holden (Gregory Smith of "Everwood") describes it to Charlotte (Stephanie Sherrin), she simply says "show me," and walks out into the rain. They eventually get around to the longest kiss in movie history, which I always thought was the one between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in "Notorious," but no, it was between Jane Wyman and Regis Toomey in "You're in the Army Now," and it clocked at 185 seconds. Of course only a kid who works in a video store would know that.
There is nobody stupid in this movie. Not even Kelly (Nicole Richie of "The Simple Life"), the head of the cheerleader squad. Not even Principal Weller (Julie Bowen), who enforces medieval policies but is scary, she's so articulate. Not even the football coach (George Wendt). Not even the drama coach (Andrew Shaifer), who once staged a reading of Oliver Stone's "Platoon" with all the expletives removed and what's more, he has Harvey Fierstein's autograph. The stupid people are all offscreen, like the anatomy teacher described by Holden: "He lives with his mom and has never seen a naked body, including his own."
The characters talk about real things in real words. Amazing. Consider the girl who runs the school's Celibacy Club but gets suspended for wearing a "Safe Sex or No Sex" button and sticking condoms to her blouse. The school policy is -- no sex. She wants to know, but what about girls who do have sex, and get pregnant or have abortions? Principal Weller's policy is celibacy or else. Consider the crisis involving the school's Minority Club, which has "traditionally" been for African-Americans only. "You can kiss my Chinese a--," says an Asian student. Another kid wants in because he's fat. And what about Lawrence (Alex Anfanger)? The head of the club concedes: "You're so, gay, Cher dresses like you."
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