Kicks

2009
4.8| 1h22m| en
Details

Nicole is an introverted Liverpudlian teenager, all but deserted by her parents, with a mother distractedly working nights and a father who has settled with a new family elsewhere. She spends time hanging around the gates of Anfield and the Melwood training ground, desperate for a glimpse of her idol, the star midfielder Lee Cassidy. She Meets aspirant WAG Jasmine, who is from an affluent family, more glamorous and streetwise, yet the girls' shared adoration to Cassidy lead them to bond instantly. They trawl the city and its nightspots, fantasizing about a time when they might have Lee for themselves, yet when the news breaks that the footballer is a transfer target for Real Madrid, they take drastic action to prevent him leaving.

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BBC Film

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Also starring Simon O'Brien

Reviews

GamerTab That was an excellent one.
Claysaba Excellent, Without a doubt!!
Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.
Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
Leofwine_draca KICKS is a virtual three-hander about a couple of teenage girls and their obsession with a handsome young footballer. To this end, they arrange to spend a night with the man, only for the ugly truth about him to emerge during the course of a torrid few hours.To be fair, the premise isn't a bad one with plenty of potential for drama and intrigue, but KICKS does nothing with it and the film as a whole soon fizzles out. The low budget is apparent in the poor quality of the performances coming from Jamie Doyle (wooden) and Nicola Burley (no presence). Kerrie Hayes is by far the best thing in this, delivering a real star-making turn, and it's no surprise that out of the three she's the one who's gone on to the likes of TV miniseries THE MILL.In the end, though, it's the almost overwhelming boredom that brings KICKS to its knees. The characters are unlikeable and while there's some fun to be had from the rather nihilistic look at celebrity in the modern age, it all feels weak and afraid to follow through with the set-up. KICKS is one of those films where absolutely nothing happens and you'd be far better off doing something else than watch it.
Prismark10 Kicks is a film about celebrity obsession and escaping from a dead end world. Nicole and Jasmine are two teenage girls obsessed with footballers particularly one Liverpool star, Lee who is about to transfer to a big club in Spain.Nicole is working class from a broken family background. Jasmine lives a more affluent life yet both are determined to live the life of a football WAG and hang out at nightclubs frequented by footballers.One night they encounter Lee for what they think would be a night of sexual passion but instead find out about the perversions of young rich, famous men who are more interested in humiliating these women. Nicole takes revenge by tying up Lee and finds that her obsession was unhealthy and has left her crushed.This is a micro budget film with hints of social realism. Some of the acting especially by the actor playing Lee is wooden. The story is slight even padded out although there is more than a hint of the film 'Misery' in the later part of the film. An intriguing film but not always interesting.
Rich Wright My sincerest wish for the two girls in this movie, is by the end they've GROWN UP. I understand they have rubbish home lives and little future prospects, but come on... obsessing over a footballer to the extent of carving his name into your skin, and breaking into his car to steal his Ipod? Please, have SOME dignity. Of course, it goes without saying they stalk him relentlessly too... as well as plan to get boob jobs to further cement their position as brainless future WAGS. What are they teaching young ladies in schools these days? Is HEAT magazine the national curriculum?The situation comes to a head when, hearing the guy they live for may be transferring to a club in Spain, they kidnap him under the pretense of a one night stand... to try to get him to stay. Yeah, that'll work. And it's in this secluded bungalow, as they hold a gun to this tied up soccer player, a few home truths start to emerge, which show how pathetic this hollow culture of celebrity worship we live in really is. Why revolve your life around someone you only know from the gossip column, when they see you, at best, as a notch on their bedpost? Far better to actually WORK HARD towards a goal, rather than make a fool of yourself in front of someone who scores them for a living. Pretty slick phrasing there, yes? Perhaps I should sell framed pictures of those pithy words for a fiver each. Now, there's a plan...Anyway, there are a few credibility issues here... namely, the ease in which two young girls can gain access to a top footballer without any security being present, and somehow convince him to put a blindfold on as they truss him up like a turkey. I know soccer stars have a reputation for not being the sharpest knives in the drawer, but we're talking I-can't-dress-myself levels of stupidity here. Still, it's an admirable little British independent feature which a great message. Even if it may fly right over the head of most of the target audience... 6/10
Errington_92 Kicks contains a powerful cultural message for everyone particularly if like myself you live in the UK, where a part of our media culture is unjustly focused on Footballers and WAGS (otherwise known as Wives and Girlfriends) to the extent of shallow worship. In Kicks we are shown the dangerous obsession such worship can lead to.Nicole and Jasmine are two teenage girls from opposite walks of life. Nicole from a working class background and a broken family while Jasmine lives in an up - scale house surrounded by wealth yet both girls are in search of the same goal, to live the WAG's lifestyle. Together they become determined to seek the affections of a local football star by following him to local nightclubs and hanging around his home. It all sounds very pathetic but it is unfortunately an aspect included in today's generation where girls want to be a part of the media frenzied shallowness without understanding the consequences. In Jasmine's case it is not surprising since she has been raised around an environment where wealth is everywhere and looks are given unnecessary attention, made obvious in the scene where Jasmine's Mother had Nicole feel her breast to prove they are real as if it was a great triumph in appearance.But with Nicole it is more of a tragic circumstance. Kicks hints at the isolation Nicole experiences at home. Her Mother always at work, her Father does not bother to contain a relationship with Nicole and her Brother is away in the Army all revealed to us by brief snippets of mise en scene. It's hard not to sympathise with Nicole as she becomes so desperate to fill a void in her life that she places undying love and loyalty to a man she has never met, showing the devotion some of today's youth place in media figures, how this part of our culture is both a powerful and harmful aspect. Predictably Kicks soon sends Nicole and Jasmine's distorted visions crashing down to earth.They soon meet their Footballing idol Lewis on a night which exposes the hidden cracks and dark truths in their obsessions and the dream they seek. The playful sexuality between themselves and their idol quickly turns ugly when he turns sexually aggressive in his demands and revelations about his private affairs come to surface which turns Nicole off and makes Jasmine become annoyed with herself for having feelings for him to the point where she uses her body to confront her disgust with their idol's true self. Although Jasmine does this as an act of revenge it also shows the extent she and Nicole were emotionally vulnerable to these obsessions making them fragile victims to their desires.The events bring to life the falsehoods of these dreams and so called ambitions, that in the end it is simply not worth it. Although Kicks story wise was not difficult to decipher, its themes of a low class culture which people revolve their lives around was done in a realistic tone making it sadder of a realisation that they are girls of this generation who seek to be a WAG solely on the basis of glamorised media reporting which in conclusion makes Kicks a thoughtful piece of social commentary.