Lately I have watched quite a lot of Charlie Chaplin movies (and I have to admit that I didn’t get around to writing reviews about them yet). After watching The Great Dictator, which I thought was a masterpiece, I was looking forward to his other movies.
Movies like Modern Times and The Gold Rush I really didn’t like as much. Despite a couple of funny situations these movies felt so fabricated. Some jokes you could already see coming from miles. Because of this they just didn’t grab my attention.
Since there are a lot of Chaplin movies in the IMDB top 250 I decided to give The Kid a chance and it is something I didn’t regret.
Charlie Chaplin plays his iconic role of The Tramp. When a woman can’t take of her child after giving birth (she’s no longer with her man), she decides to leave her kid for someone else to find it. The Tramp finds the little boy and although he first tries to get rid of him he decides to take care of him eventually.
When we skip a few years the little boy helps his new “father” to earn some money by breaking windows, which his father will then repair. The kid is adorable and really manages to be the center of attention in every scene he is in.
His mother becomes a very successful performer, regrets her decision and start searching for the kid. Meanwhile the tramp en the kid run into various problems.
The reason why I think this movie is so good, is because it has a very engaging story intertwined with some funny scenes. You won’t see as many as you would in other Chaplin movies, but that’s exactly the reason I liked The Kid. The relationship of the tramp with the kid and the things he is willing to do for him is what makes it stand out. It is a focus on a very personal story that makes it a classic with a timeless story.
Score: 8
I do have to check this one out.
You really should, would like to know what you think of it.