What begins as tedious teen comedy/drama about a Californian brat turns out to be a surprisingly agreeable popcorn flick.
Comment
09/19/08
Wild Child (2009)
32 %
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted: 19
Fresh: 6
Rotten:13
Average Rating: 4.5/10
Consensus: More mild than wild. This tween comedy mess falls flat on its face due to poor characters, poor direction and poor jokes.
Theatrical Release: Nov 30, 2007 Wide
Synopsis: Nicholas Moore directs this tweeny bopper fish-out-of-water comedy starring Emma Roberts. Poppy (Roberts) is a spoiled Malibu brat, and the film opens with her wreaking havoc on her stepmother's moving-in day. Her father (Aidan Quinn)... [More]
Starring: Emma Roberts, Natasha Richardson, Shirley Henderson, Aidan Quinn
Director: Nick Moore
Reviews for Wild Child
Top Critic
The screenplay by Lucy Dahl (daughter of Roald) dwells unpleasantly on cruelty and humiliation, and finally Poppy does little more than exchange one form of snobbery for another.
09/19/08
Top Critic It's an unoriginal story but one with potential, and the actors who play Poppy's school chums are lively company.
09/19/08
Top Critic The film has an energy and honesty about it: it's lively, funny and smart and the characters are appealing
09/13/08
Top CriticClick to read the article
10/18/08
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10/18/08
Top Critic Bright and silly, with just enough wit and intelligence to make it watchable, this British-American teen comedy doesn't break much new ground, but is pretty entertaining while it lasts.
08/15/08
Despite a shaky start, Wild Child is actually a surprisingly entertaining teen flick, thanks to likeable performances and a script that highlights the importance of friendship. Worth seeing.
08/15/08
It may be manna for teen girls but any kind of critical eye will find it about as convincingly made as the last St Trinian’s movie. It is played, though, with lively abandon.
08/15/08
On balance, gouging one's eyeballs with a chopstick would be more fun than watching this crummy tween comedy about a Californian princess.
08/15/08
The types are such extremes that the partisans in the audience will continue to hate American brats and English snobs respectively, rapprochement between two sets of caricatures seeming unlikely.
08/15/08
WILD? More like mild, unless you think short skirts and “horse face” put-downs are outrageous.
08/15/08
Top Critic Shame on Iggy Pop for letting them (ab)use his anarchy-anthem ‘Real Wild Child’ in a girls’-own flick that is so paltry it makes the recent St Trinians addition look like Picnic At Hanging Rock.
08/15/08
Unless you’re fourteen and female, look away now. There’s absolutely nothing for you here.
08/15/08
A tweenie comedy with an uplifting American-style sports movie awkwardly bolted on, it's a mess - far inferior to the recent Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.
08/15/08
All amiable enough, but still a bit tame compared to, say, Clueless, or Lindsay Lohan's Freaky Friday remake.
08/15/08
Top Critic It’s Mean Girls meets Malory Towers and as such it’s strictly for a tween girl audience.
08/15/08
Top Critic The sort of film that real too-cool-for-school teens wouldn't be seen dead watching, Wild Child is aimed at those younger than its protagonists. Loud and obnoxious, like its lead character, it deserves to be expelled.
08/15/08
This celebration of mid-Atlantic compromise is one for the youngest and most forgiving of teenage girls.
08/15/08
Clumsy direction means most jokes fall flatter than the paper-thin plot.
08/15/08
Top CriticLatest News for Wild Child
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Summer is Hollywood's blockbuster season -- but does it also highlight how irrelevant women have become in American film? More...
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