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Movies / On DVD / Billy The Kid
Billy The Kid

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Billy The Kid (2007)

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Reviews Counted:28

Fresh:24

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.4/10

Consensus: Jennifer Venditti's doc Billy the Kid turns "special" into a double edged sword, forging a sharply honest film around a strangely enigmatic -- if awkward -- kid named Billy.

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 85 mins

Genre: Musical & Performing Arts

Theatrical Release:Dec 5, 2007 Limited

Synopsis: Jennifer Venditti makes an astonishing directorial debut with BILLY THE KID. A New York City-based casting director, Venditti discovered the 15-year-old Billy Price while working on a short film in... Jennifer Venditti makes an astonishing directorial debut with BILLY THE KID. A New York City-based casting director, Venditti discovered the 15-year-old Billy Price while working on a short film in Maine. Misunderstood by seemingly everyone around him, Venditti decided to return to the small town with a camera to follow Billy around for a week and let him tell his own story. The result is an exhilarating work of nonfiction that is both heartbreaking and hilarious. Billy has been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, yet Venditti doesn't call attention to this diagnosis. Instead, she follows him in a vérité fashion and allows him to speak for himself. And speak he does. A well-read, thoughtful young man, Billy unleashes quotes and references that will leave viewers dazed and amused (his spectrum covers everything from Robert Frost to the band Kiss). Billy's mother realizes that her son is a special case, and she treats him with patience and understanding that is rare and noble. While the entire film is a revelation, it is Billy's courtship of a fellow outsider, Heather, that takes the film to another level completely. Watching these extraordinary characters experience such universal stomach-punching emotions is a wonder to behold. It is here where BILLY THE KID transcends its seemingly breezy, innocent atmosphere and becomes a profound meditation on the raucous emotional tornado that is adolescence. It is impossible to watch BILLY THE KID and not cringe with recognition. [More]

Director: Jennifer Venditti

Director: Jennifer Venditti
Producer: Jennifer Venditti, Chiemi Karasawa
Composer: Christian Zucconi, Guy Blakeslee
Studio: Elephant Eye Films

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Release:

Oct 28, 2008

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Reviews for Billy The Kid

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Billy, who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, is sympathetic, but you can easily understand why he's a social outcast. This is a film about Billy, not about his condition.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
06/09/09
Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin
About.com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix | comment Comment
04/23/09
Gerald Peary
Gerald Peary
Boston Phoenix

The rough and ready filmmaking technique makes it challenging for the viewer at times, and perhaps a stricter editing discipline could have tightened the film

Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | comment Comment
10/18/08
Andrew L. Urban
Andrew L. Urban
Urban Cinefile
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Variety | comment Comment
10/18/08
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
10/18/08
Joshua Rothkopf
Joshua Rothkopf
Time Out New York
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
04/03/08
Boxoffice Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The best documentaries take you places you don't normally have access to.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
02/29/08
John Monaghan
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Opens as a study on a teen with some social/behavioral issues. The film makes sure never to label, then gently tangents from the study into a sweet spontaneous love story.

Full Review Source: Hollywood Report Card | comment Comment
02/25/08
Ross Anthony
Ross Anthony
Hollywood Report Card

Watching Billy the Kid duplicates -- as much as any movie probably can -- the fascinating process of trying to figure out someone you've just met.

Full Review Source: St. Paul Pioneer Press | comment Comment
02/08/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press

A raw, touching, unfiltered look at the teenage angst that Hollywood usually turns into brain-dead comedy.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
02/08/08
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Billy's resilience, though, is nothing short of amazing. Not to mention part of growing up.

Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times | comment Comment
02/08/08
Carina Chocano
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

What you ultimately take from the film is the awareness that this smart, self-aware, uncensored kid has been playing to a camera in his own head since well before Venditti came along.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
02/07/08
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly

Billy the Kid is an unforgettable, distressing, riveting snapshot of a boy and his world; a high-speed descent into pure impulse that should not be missed.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
02/01/08
Brian Orndorf
Brian Orndorf
eFilmCritic.com

Without a hint of irony, he spouts off, I hope the next film I'm in is action. So do I.

Full Review Source: Arizona Daily Star | comment Comment
01/24/08
Phil Villarreal
Phil Villarreal
Arizona Daily Star

What makes Billy the Kid extraordinary is not that it grants seeming access to private moments, but that it makes clear as well the inherently public nature of the filmmaking process.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
01/17/08
Cynthia Fuchs
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters

Billy may come off as an odd duck, but he's not mean or too peculiar. Actually, he's pretty likable, which is why you'll probably find yourself rooting for him to get the girl and to be happy for a change.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/11/08
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

... a window into the world of adolescence, where everything is immediate and intense and important.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
01/10/08
Sean Axmaker
Sean Axmaker
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Billy the Kid, a movie that's as interesting as it is dewy-eyed, may be the rare snapshot of an adolescent 'outcast' who is really the guy made for fame, with a built-in radar for how to present himself in front of the camera.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
01/09/08
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Nobody ever said growing up a small-town geek was easy. I know from personal experience, and so does Billy Price, the subject of director Jennifer Venditti's affecting documentary Billy the Kid.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
12/07/07
V.A. Musetto
V.A. Musetto
New York Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There's something to be said for Venditti's ability to build the kind of trust with a subject necessary to get full participation.

Full Review Source: AV Club | comment Comment
12/06/07
Noel Murray
Noel Murray
AV Club
 
 
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