Kisses
Oscilloscope Pictures | Release Date: July 16, 2010 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
68
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 17 Critic Reviews
Positive:
13
Mixed:
4
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
91
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
A superior lyrical ragamuffin Irish drama. Read full review
90
The Hollywood ReporterRay Bennett
By keeping his (Daly) focus on the two remarkable youngsters without an ounce of sentimentality he succeeds in making something true and satisfying. Read full review
90
Village VoiceElla Taylor
The movie's ending may be less satisfying than that of "Slumdog Millionaire"--a film you can love for its infectiously wishful exuberance, but never fully believe in--but Kisses is truer to the tragedy of a generation of children whom we have utterly failed. If they're anything like Kylie and Dylan, they'll be back to let us know. Read full review
80
Boxoffice MagazineSteve Ramos
The sweetest runaways you'll ever meet are pre-teens Kylie Lawless (Kelly O'Neill) and Dylan Dunne (Shane Curry). Read full review
80
EmpireDavid Parkinson
Captivating and poignant portayal of life on the edge for the disregarded of our societies. Read full review
80
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
Small though it is, Kisses evokes all kinds of feelings, and that is no small thing from a film of any size. Read full review
75
ObserverRex Reed
The kids make stunning debuts, but their accents are thicker than porridge, rendering a good 90 percent of the dialogue so unintelligible that it might as well be in Swahili. Some subtitles are provided out of necessity, but not enough. Read full review
75
New York PostV.A. Musetto
In an effective touch, Kisses opens in black and white, changes into color for its Dublin scenes, then returns to monochrome. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleAmy Biancolli
It isn't a long journey. Kisses clocks at 72 minutes, which feels something less than feature length. It's long enough to include a few cliches and nagging questions, yet it's short enough to leave you wanting more. Read full review
67
Portland OregonianStan Hall
What saves Kisses from its missteps is the chemistry between O'Neill and Curry. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
O'Neill and Curry, both heretofore nonactors, can't put across much more than a single emotion at a time, but their amateurishness isn't as annoying as it might have been in a movie with higher aspirations and artistry. Read full review
65
NPRMark Jenkins
Slight but engaging, and considerably energized by its two young leads, Daly's Kisses gives several fresh spins to one of Irish cinema's most common recent subjects: troubled working-class children on the lam. Read full review
65
MovielineStephanie Zacharek
There's nothing so frustrating as a small movie, made by a clearly gifted filmmaker, that flies close to magic only to be sternly jerked back to earth. Read full review
60
Time OutDavid Fear
No one would claim that director Lance Daly delivers an Emerald Isle version of "The Spirit of the Beehive," though this scrappy film does have a knack for capturing the elation and confusion of late childhood in their ragged glory. Read full review
60
The New York TimesStephen Holden
Kisses may strike you as either ingeniously magical or insufferably cute, depending on your taste. But more than the story, which circles back on itself, the natural performances of its young stars, Shane Curry and especially Kelly O'Neill, nonprofessional actors, lend the movie a core of integrity. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
Kisses is dreary to a fault. It looks fantastic, with its shadowy Dublin alleys illuminated by the heroes' light-up Heelys. But the writing doesn't have that same glow. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
What the writer and director, Lance Daly, means as some kind of transporting urban adventure for them is a disenchanting slog for us. Read full review
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