95% The Kid with a Bike

All Critics (62) | Top Critics (18) | Fresh (58) | Rotten (3)

A wonderfully human and humane story about one of those lost-and-found children who tend to slip through society's not-so-safe safety nets.

Within its tight 87 minutes, not a lot happens, unless you count the saving of a life.

It's minor, but powerfully so.

As is usual in their films, the Dardennes remain both deeply interested and carefully objective. The photography and editing are unfussy and unhurried. There is no attempt to do anything but present these small fictions as simple fact.

A sly but finally banal update of the Italian neorealist classic "The Bicycle Thief."

A quietly rapturous film about love and redemption from Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne...

The Kid With A Bike cuts to the humanist heart of a boy's troubled 'rite de passage', without ever resorting to exaggerated emoting or cheap sensationalism.

Belgian writer/director/producers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne capture with heartfelt verisimilitude a boy's misplaced determination to find a father figure.

Raw but compassionate, naturalistic but compelling. If you're looking to get into the Dardennes, this is a great place to start.

Their central characters are flawed, and often do awful things, but the Dardennnes' world view is entirely practical.

A tragic figure in the person of an eleven year old, but a boy who never gives up.

A richly textured and human drama brimming with warmth, tenderness and pure, unadulterated poignancy.

It's a quietly powerful film about redemption that works on multiple levels, thanks in part to its superb performances.

...when they (Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne) hit the mark they create understated but deeply moving dramas that are uniquely their own. 'The Kid with a Bike' is their latest effort and it is among their best.

In an act of grand thievery, debut child actor Thomas Doret makes off with The Kid With a Bike.

A lovingly understated film from masters of naturalistic cinema.

comes to its triumphs after tremendous internal struggles, unseen yet palpable at every moment.

continues the Belgian writing-directing brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne's extraordinary run of charting the lives of European down-and-outers navigating difficult moral and spiritual terrain.

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Source: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_kid_with_a_bike/

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