REVIEW: The Dardennes? The Kid with a Bike May Not Move So Fast, But Its Young Star Sure Does
In strict dramatic terms, almost nothing occurs in the Dardenne brothers? The Kid with a Bike. Some characters show a lack of empathy, even cruelty, but there?s more than enough kindness elsewhere to make up for it, and the terrible things you fear might happen simply don?t. Those qualities make the movie seem slight, almost inconsequential, as if the merest breeze would blow it off-course. But the real strength of The Kid with a Bike is the cautious but generous warmth of its storytelling. Not much happens in The Kid with a Bike, but it leaves you grateful that the worst doesn?t happen — with these characters, you might not be able to bear it.
The Kid with a Bike starts out as your standard child-at-risk story. Cyril (played by the fine young actor Thomas Doret, in his debut) is an 11-ish redhead with a buzz cut who's in perpetual movement from the movie's first minute: Peripatetic, quizzical and persistent, Cyril is obsessed with reconnecting with his father (played by Dardennes regular Jérémie Renier), who has essentially abandoned him to a local home for displaced or problem kids. Cyril also wants his bike back — he believes it's still in the apartment his father has recently also abandoned — and with the help of a quietly compassionate hairdresser he meets by chance, Samantha (Cécile De France, in a relaxed but extremely focused performance), he does get it back. Recognizing, in some basic, primal way, that he's found someone who might be able to give him the care and affection he needs, Cyril latches onto her, figuratively and even at one point literally — he clamps his arms around her in an ironclad, monkeylike embrace. He also makes a bold request, asking her outright if she?ll let him live…
Jessica Paré Jessica Simpson Zooey Deschanel Aaliyah Abbie Cornish Adriana Lima Adrianne Curry Adrianne Palicki