Wild Child (2008) Reviews

• Good Teen Fun

  marianne-grace-x2008-08-20

  While this film won't be winning any prizes for being particularly deep and probably won't make you rethink your outlook on life, it's still good fun. There's some promising new talent, good laughs and sweet lines in this delightfully cheesy romantic comedy. It's about a stereotypical Malibu Princess who annoys her father one too many times, resulting in her being sent away to an English Boarding school (much to her horror - the rain, the rain!). The film pretty much centers around her trying to get expelled from the school, and therefore sent back to LA with her father and sister. The film is about her journey from spoilt brat to English Boarding school-girl. If you're into Rom Coms and you're between 12 & 19 years of age I would definitely recommend this one for a good night in with the girls. + there's some magnificent Alex Pettyfer moments ;) JUST WANT TO ADD - That there have been many complaints (mostly from British girls - of which I am) about the way British girls are portrayed in this film, but please rethink this and look at how Americans are treated! Our main character starts as a lying, self obsessed and vain brat and her best friend Ruby (American) proceeds to steal her boyfriend and backstab her! So you British girls who saw fit to complain - don't. This is only light-hearted fun, and Americans are treated far worse!

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• Not bad at all

  caersai2008-10-06

  Wild Child may be predictable, but what it lacks in substance it makes up in character evolution. It is your basic wild child gets sent away and becomes reformed type of movie, but there lies a deeper meaning hidden in this movie. The poster before me recommended this to children, and I can't help but wonder if that poster was a teen him/herself. Adults will enjoy this movie more than teenagers; teenagers rarely understand coming-of-age movies as they have yet to experience it. Wild Child is most assuredly a predictable movie, but don't let that stop you. It's also very heartwarming, charming, and may bring a tear to your eye. See it.

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• Light Hearted FUN

  rphillips-182009-06-14

  Come on folks, lighten up here. Yes... This isn't a deep and meaningful piece of classic cinema... It is a fun "just sit back and have a good grin" film. I'm afraid that people who get on their high horse about films like this must have gone to the wrong cinema! I am male, in my 40's, have a degree and run my own company... I watched this together with my two daughters (14 and 16) and we all had great fun and a few really good laughs. So no... you don't have to be a 12 year old girl to find something fun in this film! It is predictable, cheesy and the plot is VERY shallow and weak in most places... But you can't expect more from a film like this. So if you want to watch this, just turn off your high-brow film critic existence, grab some popcorn and a fizzy drink and have a smile...

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• So bad it's bordering on genius.

  ste_to_the_phen2009-01-10

  I'm a 20 year old male and was roped in to seeing this with my girlfriend, and I'm glad for it. The film has an incredibly predictable storyline, the acting isn't great, most of it complete and utter non-sense and most of events in the film hold little to no purpose. I've gave it a high rating, however, because I don't think I've laughed quite as much at a film as I have at this one for a long, long time. I think the phrase 'so genius it's bordering on madness' applies here: the film isn't good, but that's where it succeeds. It's one of those films that aren't meant to be taken seriously, and as such you can just relax, and have a laugh. I spent a good hour or so crying of laughter, and I could't even catch my breath during the "I'm Spartacus" motif in the 'Honour Court' -- unintended comedy genius. While it's no Space Odyssey and has less character depth in the entire film than is seen in one minute of A Clockwork Orange, it is nevertheless worth the watch.

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• A Nutshell Review: Wild Child

  DICK STEEL2008-12-12

  I guess Emma Roberts' more memorable role was taking on the iconic Nancy Drew character, but now she exchanges those sleuthing skills and good manners for spoilt brat antics. Swinging from one end of the spectrum of an ideal kid to a spoilt and bratty one, her Poppy Moore character in Wild Child is a rich kid who has issues with discipline because she thinks she could get her way with her devil may care attitude and wads of cash. With her relationship with her father going to the doldrums, she gets shipped off to an English boarding school in an effort to be schooled in the prim and proper, and thus sets up plenty of room for your typical fish out of water story. Naturally as the loner who stands out because of her rather uncouth behaviour and fashion sense, this was somewhat a throw back to The House Bunny, where the protagonist is clearly out of place, and remains to be seen if it is herself who would be assimilated into the norm, or if she could be the trend-setter and begin a serious case of behavioural osmosis. For starters, this is clearly chick flick territory, with all characters being girls (it's set in an all girls boarding school) and the only male supporting characters happened to be her dad (Aidan Quinn), the school principal's son Freddie (Alex Pettyfer) for romantic purposes, and Nick Frost who cameos as a small town hairstylist. So you can imagine the amount of bitching that would go around in the film, where Poppy offends the head student on her first day on multiple fronts, thereby starting off some serious personal vendetta issues. Or how Poppy is initially unwelcome by everyone in her dormitory because her stubbornness got them all detention, before they decide to assist her in a win-win situation - getting her expelled so that she could return home. Wild Child is surprisingly entertaining with a good story to tell, even though it's the usual about having friends for life versus the superficial ones that one tend to meet from time to time. I guess for parents this could be one of those child-safe movies to bring their kids to, and hopefully to have some of its positive messages rub off on their kids. Written by Lucy Dahl, daughter of the renowned Roald Dahl, that credit alone provided some interest in this movie, despite the story and plot development being nothing unusual and being very predictable. But I guess predictability could still work if the ensemble cast delivered their roles convincingly, which they do, and with any movie that deals with friendship and one targetted at children, this is as plain sailing a movie as it can get - nobody dies, everyone becomes friends, tense situations get diffused amicably, and there's plenty of BFF-love to go around.

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