"That Annoying Kid!"

THE KID WITH A BIKE

Original title: Le Gamin au vélo
Year: 2011
Country: Belgium/France/Italy
Language: French
Number: 1094
Written and Directed by: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Starring: Thomas Doret, Cécile De France, Jérémie Renier, Fabrizio Rongione
Cannes Film Festival: Grand Prize of the Jury, Golden Palm

The Dardenne brother's latest film The Kid with a Bike is the story about a 12-year-old boy named Cyril, who's recently been left in an orphanage by his father, who have suddenly disappear without telling Cyril where. Cyril then runs away from the orphanage and goes back to his father's apartment, only to find out that he's left. His father also sold Cyril's bike, which was bought by a woman Cyril meets at the clinic. The woman, Samantha, returns the bike to him, and she also tries to helps Cyril finds his father, and she also get attached to little Cyril and sometimes works as his foster mother.

The Kid with a Bike is a good idyllic indie film, with the great handheld camera, the same naturalism, and the same depth to it's characters. It is so good that I would have given it five stars, but like the Star Wars prequels, it was ruined by a kid. What a story needs to catch my interest, is that the protagonist neexd to be empathic, which in this case the protagonist isn't. Cyril is a restless kid that won't take a break for a second. He's rude. He never listens, and is stubborn. To say it more informal: He's a dick. I can't help it. But overall this film is digestible, and I really liked the other characters, and Cyril seems also to get better, but the first half is unforgivable. Thumbs up.

Grade: B-

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