Kylie (Kelly O'Neill) and Dylan (Shane Curry) surviving a night of Kisses.
Kisses of youth
By John Esther
After two years on the film festival circuit, where it picked up a few nominations and awards along the way, writer-director Lance Daly’s Kisses touches the silver screen in select cities across the country.
Set around and in Dublin, Ireland, Dylan (Shane Curry) is an obnoxious 11-year-old child living with an obnoxious father (Paul Roe) in an obnoxious neighborhood filled with obnoxious people of all ages. Gossip, taunting, yelling and hitting are the rules of the day.
It is a daunting existence, but like a flower set amongst the weeds, the only thing growing well for Dylan is Kylie (Kelly O’Neill), the abused next door girl who fancies one day marrying Dylan if he promises to get her out of town.
After a series of escalating antagonisms between father and son, Dylan and Kylie flee to center city where they roll through the rugged rues on their flashing shoes, seeking Dylan’s older runaway brother while trying to find food and safety from the city’s more sinister elements. Temporarily the pre-teens find solace and comfort from strangers such as Down Under Dylan (Steve Rea), a kind Australian man who does tributes to American singer Bob Dylan, but a big city is rarely kind to runaway kids.
Marked by strong performances from Curry, O’Neill and their older peers, the 75-minute Kisses captures the precariousness of kids who are trying to break free of their sad surroundings while holding onto the solidarity of childhood friendship. Unfortunately, one gets the feeling these kids will eventually miss the opportunity and lose the will to leave while encountering the likelihood of losing touch with each other by the time they are through their teens -- despite the seemingly tacked-on trite ending.
