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The Kid with a Bike Movie Review

The Kid with a Bike is a 2011 Belgian drama film directed by the Dardenne brothers and starring Thomas Doret. It’s another overrated movie coming from this duo.

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“It’s too much. I can’t look after him“

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It follows a 12-year-old boy named Cyril who is abandoned by his father and left in state care. He finds a new friend in a local hairdresser who takes pity on him and agrees to foster him on weekends. Upon seeing ‘Rosetta’ and ‘Two Days, One Night’, I was baffled. Both are solid, but far from great features, thus I found these directors overrated, and unfortunately I cement that opinion now as this movie is even worse.

It very obviously attempts to emulate the great ‘Bicycle Thieves’, but fails miserably. It has none of the class or the emotion of that classic movie, instead it has this very unbelievable drama full of ridiculous plot points that I did not buy whatsoever.

Admittedly, the relationship between the boy and the hairdresser is sweet and endearing. Those scenes felt like a fairy tale that the directors strove to emulate and it was different seeing their movie be warm at times and not harshly realistic throughout.

However, as I have said above, the problem here is that I did not believe any of it. This is one of those movies where shit just happens and bad situations pile upon each other so unrealistically to the point of becoming a frustrating viewing experience, in particular some moments that come out of nowhere and are disconnected from the rest.

I did like the performances, but the characters aren’t all that great. The boy isn’t likable at all, and he should have been sympathetic for this movie that centers on him and his plight to work properly, and most of his obstacles felt like archetypes.

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In terms of technicalities, The Kid with a Bike looks good and it has a score, which was a welcome change in pace for this directorial duo. But it wasn’t all that involving with many overly slow scenes and the dialogue also wasn’t great.

The Kid with a Bike has some heartwarming, sweet sequences that were a welcome departure for this directorial duo, but otherwise it has a plot that is so implausible in its piling of unrealistic scenarios that it really was a frustrating viewing experience. I continue to find the Dardenne brothers’ cinematic works rather unimpressive, and this particular effort of theirs is not the next Bicycle Thieves, let’s just state that.

My Rating – 3