Genres

Visitors Review

Lalit Rao 2012-05-16 23:32:51

Adrien Brody is a great actor. Soderburg must see this film in order to reinvent his old style.

The good and unique thing about "King of the hill" is that it cannot bepigeonholed. It is neither the run of the mill, hippie dippy graced bythe box office Hollywood flick not it is a sensible sample of theAmerican independent movement. It is a film which is rarely made thesedays. This is because such films are made through a stroke of luck. Amust for all the young kids who have ever had a bold direct personalencounter with poverty. Jesse Bradford is a joy to behold. So areJeroen Krabbe, Splading Gray and Elisabeth Mcgovern. However the crowdpuller is the great performance by Adrien Brody. He plays his role withtremendous dedication. Anyone could have easily predicted that he is astar in the making. As far as captain soderburg is concerned. Just aword of advice : kindly reinvent your lost style by watching some ofyour old films. May be the world might surely benefit due to yourwatching your own films.

pmarquis 2012-05-16 16:14:51

Beating Depression in St. Louis

I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. This is an evocativetale of life before food banks and the welfare system. Watching theyoung protagonist pretend he enjoyed eating his "delicious"cut-from-a-magazine food was pretty poignant. The performances put inby the young actors are believable without being too sappy. JesseBradford is charming. Also worth seeing is Adrien Brody. He sparkleswith a to-the-gut vitality. But in the end it is the kid's grit anddetermination that holds this movie together. His pride in himself andhis dogged pursuit of his creativity, integrity and ingenuity makesthis movie worth seeing. A great scene to be on the look out for iswhen the beautiful gum-snapping elevator girl gives the young Aaron agraduation gift. In addition, I especially enjoyed John McConnell'sperformance as the mean "Big Butt" cop. I'm pretty sure he was also inthe recent Ladykillers with Tom Hanks. He's fun to watch.

2012-05-15 23:59:17

UNAPPRECIATED MASTERPIECE

A movie you won't forget (worth 6 stars!), about a little boy growing up in St. Louis during the Depression (only the movie is for adults). Experience the overwhelming poverty on a daily basis as Aaron struggles to stay alive. Quite an exciting runaway car scene. A youthful Adrien Brody plays a part, and the original novel is excellent reading. Probably Jesse's finest movie. Wish he would do more like this one.

marilyn-10 2012-05-15 03:47:32

Enthusiastic recommendation

I have and do recommend this film to many. Offering a look into the mosttender, vulnerable and heartbreaking moments of a family greatly sufferingduring the depression of the 1930's, a young boy is pressed into serviceasthe emotional champion of his family. His becoming a man is not triviallycompared to the childhood game so many of us have played; he plays for hislife. The power of this young man's courage will reach even the mostcynical.No tear-jerker, but poignant; tears will likely flow. This film willdefinitely be on my shelf as soon as it is available. I have been waitingsince 1993.

da watcha 2012-05-14 01:33:08

Underrated Film with an Underrated Performance by the Underrated Joseph Chrest

This is a magnificent example of Soderbergh at his best. Not Soderberghthedeconstructionist or Soderbergh the hipster/geek auteur, but Soderberghthestoryteller. Definitely the best work of his career sofar.The film is full of stunningly poignant moments. From the father'sconversation in the car to the little brother's fart joke that signifiesthat the children are free to be children again, this is the rareunsentimental movie that can nonetheless reduce grown men totears.The greatest thing about this film, though is the towering performance ofSoderbergh regular Joseph Chrest as the demented Bellhop. Between this,"The Underneath," "Out of Sight," "Erin Brockovich," and his appearancesinsome of Chris Carter's more memorable television experiments, Chrest hasproven himself to be a yeoman character actor along the lines of PhilipSeymour Hoffman or John C. Reilly.Would someone like P.T. Anderson, David Lynch, The Coen Brothers, or evenyou yourself, Mr. Soderbergh, please give this quirky genius more screentime and make him the star he deserves to be already? Please?

AKS-6 2012-05-13 16:27:18

Fine film

"King of the Hill" is a great film. The acting is brilliant. JesseBradfordis a stand out and it's one of those performances where you're awed by thefact that someone that young can be such a fantastic actor (like withHaleyJoel Osment in "The Sixth Sense" and Eamonn Owens in "The Butcher Boy").It's also interesting to see Adrien Brody in an early role as I justnoticedhim a few weeks ago when I saw "Summer of Sam". The film itself is also avery interesting and touching drama. Bravo Soderbergh!(7/10)

aperez-3 2012-05-06 17:23:08

feel good

The movie's best asset is Jesse Bradford. Aside from the fact that he's anextremely cute kid, his nonchalant acting makes one feel that the story isbeing told to him by a friend first hand.There.

psush_girl 2012-05-06 15:26:21

Such a Sad Movie...

I first saw this movie a few weeks ago on broadcast television and wasonly watching it, initially, because I was bored on a Saturdayafternoon and there was nothing else better on television. After nowhaving seen it, I'm glad I happened upon the film because without it, Iwould never have seen the immense talent of Jesse Bradford. I'd onlyever seen him in two other films: "Bring It On" and "Swimfan". I thinkhe did a fair job in the latter and a pretty good job in the former,however neither gave me the impression that he was a great actor. Afterseeing "King of the Hill", I now have a newfound respect for JesseBradford. Now as far as the film itself goes, I thought it was a greatmovie but it was incredibly sad and not one I'd recommend watching whenyou're in a good mood because it will just bring you down. I was veryexcited to see a young Adrian Brody in the film and, as was expected,he did a phenomenal job in the film as well. I remember watching themovie and being really angry with the father in this movie for leavinghis child to starve to death. It was at that moment that I realized Iwas watching a truly great example of quality film-making. The moviegets a 9 out of 10 (it loses a point for being a little toomelodramatic).

David H. Schleicher 2012-04-28 20:45:17

This is not Norman Rockwell's America

I can recall first seeing "King of the Hill" shorty after its initialrelease when I wasn't much older than the main character, Aaron (JesseBradford, who displays the natural swagger of a young George Clooneyhere). I was totally enthralled by the story, and this was one of thepieces that ushered in my complete love for and eerie obsession withDepression Era America.Steven Soderbergh as a director over the years has been wildly all overthe map traversing genres and styles from top-notch cracker-jack indieflicks (the superb "Limey") to vapid star-studded populistentertainment (the "Oceans" series) to entertaining star vehicles (theexcellent "Erin Brockovich") to overblown misguided message movies("Traffic") to Kubrickian quandaries (the unfairly maligned "Solaris").In 1993, still in his formative early years, he hit all the right noteswith his vividly detailed and heartbreaking tale of a young boy(Bradford) abandoned in a sleazy hotel room on the edge of aHooverville in 1933 St. Louise by his flaky salesman father,consumption riddled mother, and little brother who got shipped off tolive with relatives so he wouldn't starve to death. The boy lies,steals, woos girls and wins academic awards at school propelled only byhis keen wit and innate will to survive. Soderbergh brilliantlyabandons almost all sentimentality (the exchanges between the brothersare heartfelt but raw, between mother and son tragically subdued, andbetween father and son frightfully cold yet honest) and views not theactions of the characters through the lens of our modern moral codes,but through the lens of the era in which the characters survived.Special note has to be given to the cinematography, as this is one ofthe few modern films set in the Depression Era not completely washedout in sepia tones. The film looks real and puts you right there in themiddle of this American quagmire. There's also one amazingly renderedshot of a traffic cop holding up a squealing street urchin by the earafter capturing the boy stealing an apple that is so painstakinglylighted and framed that it serves as the complete flip-side of yourclassic Norman Rockwell painting from the same era.Viewing this film recently on cable, I was even more transfixed thanthe first time over thirteen years ago. There's also delight to befound in seeing Oscar winner Adrien Brody in his first major role asAaron's "big brother" role model, and Grammy winner Lauryn Hill in anice bit part as a sympathetic gum-chewing elevator operator.Although historically little seen, this film has been universallylauded, and as the early masterwork of an Oscar winning director, it'sa crime that there has been no DVD release.

2012-04-28 11:27:14

no title

From the memoirs of A. E. Hotchner. Father here played the bad guy in "The Fugitive". A wonderful film about the 1933 Depression. Meticulous in detail. You simply can't go wrong with a Soderbergh film.

AdFin 2012-04-27 11:43:40

The best American film of the nineties

Without a doubt, I would argue King of the Hill to be the best American filmof the 1990's above any other American film you can think of. The subtletyof the performances and the evocative production design pull you into thecarefully constructed world of Aaron Kurlander, building the right level ohhumour and drama, and never allowing it's self to become bogged down withtacky sentimentality. Steven Soderbergh really out-did himself with thisone, and it's by far the best thing he's done, you can forget the overrated,over-hyped Oscar nabbing rubbish of Traffic, this showed a young directorwilling to experiment with tried and tested film-making techniques and findthe right visual language for the film. King of the Hill is a film that isso deliberately paced, and so elegantly put together, that at times it's asthough your not watching an American film at all, there is such a Europeanatmosphere that it seems out of place with some of the other U.S. filmreleased in the same year (Jurassic Park, Mrs Doubtfire and Cliffhangerbeing just three of the top grossing movies of ‘93). So is it any wonder that King of the Hill failed to set the box officealight with popcorn based seat fillers like that, I mean, who wants to seethe story of a young boy coming of age under the harshest conditions whenyou can see Robin Williams vacuuming in drag to the sounds of Aerosmith. Yeah, sounds like a safe bet for all the family. But King of the Hill issuch a good movie, that the hard-to-describe plot should be overlooked, andpeople should just give it a chance, they will be so moved by Aaron'splight, and so drawn in by Soderbergh's direction (coupled with ElliotDavis' composition heavy cinematography) and detailed production design thatthey will not be able to pull themselves away. Added to that the greatacting from the entirety of the eclectic cast, that includes Jeroen Krabbe,Spalding Grey, Elizabeth McGovern, Karen Allen, new comers Jesse Bradfordand Cameron Boyd, and (then) unknowns Adrien Brody (who was great as Ritchiein Spike Lee's Summer of Sam) and Roswell star Katherine Heigl. Soderbergh's handling of his young actors is nothing short of genius, theircharacters and characterization is multi-layered to the extent that we neverdoubt that their characters are real. King of the Hill is an unbelievable film that, as I have already said, is(in my opinion) the greatest American film of the nineties and should beseen by everyone who is a fan of not just intelligent cinema, but filmlover's in general. And it's about time the film got some kind of propervideo and/or DVD release, as it's unavailability is scandalous. 10/10

trpdean 2012-04-27 03:31:52

Really enjoyable

Everything works with this one. Really interesting and heart-rending story,great characters, fine sets, lighting, costumes, music, excellent acting.Someone compared this to The Pianist and I see what he means. It reminds meof a movie like Paper Moon, but whereas I disliked the Tatum O'Nealcharacter (stealing from those who could not afford to lose the money), Ireally like this boy. I also think the pangs of missing family, what it'slike to be a child, are more realistically done in this movie than in PaperMoon.I really can't imagine anyone who wouldn't like this - it's very mainstream,very good - and in contrast to those who say this reminds them of someEuropean movie, I would say it's as American as apple pie.I highly recommend it. (It also helps that Lisa Eichorn is my favoriteliving actress - and Karen Allen would be in the top ten).

2012-04-25 10:51:03

One of the finest films in cinema history.

Restrained, gentle, nonjudgemental story about a young boy struggling to keep his life together in the midst of his family being ripped apart by the economic hardship of the U.S. Great Depression. Every performance, no matter how small, is brilliant: from Karen Allen's concerned teacher to Jerone Krabbe's insecure, fearful father to Adrien Brody's superb, sexy swagger as the young boy's mentor; from Spalding Gray's affluent neighbor to Elizabeth McGovern's wry hooker. This show, however, belongs to two people -- Jesse Bradford as young Aaron, and to the filmmaker, Steven Soderberg, who never ceases to astonish with a smart, witty, heartbreaking screenplay, and visual imagery you are not likely to forget. A perfect film.

kickstand 2012-04-25 07:49:42

Well-done film with lots of humanity

This under-rated gem comes from Steven Soderbergh's "wilderness" years. A solid, well-made film, "King of the Hill" hasnone of the splash that charaterizes most of S.S.'s other work; nokinky plot twists, narrative tricks, or dazzling camera work here.What this film does offer is a deeply felt portrait of realistic peoplein realistic situations, which itself is more than you'll get from mostfilms these days. Don't expect to be dazzled or swept off your feetby "King of the Hill;" but don't be surprised if you find yourselfthinking about the poor protagonist and his richly rendered life andtimes for days after you see the film.P.S. Don't miss music star Lauryn Hill as an elevator operator.

Dorian Tenore-Bartilucci 2012-04-22 23:15:20

Moving Memoir With Hard-Won Triumphs & Great Cast of Present & Future Stars

Based on A.E. Hotchner's memoirs, writer/director Steven Soderbergh's1993 adaptation of KING OF THE HILL (KofH) is the poignant, often dark,but ultimately uplifting story of 12-year-old Aaron Kurlander (JesseBradford, who comes across as sensitive and resilient at the sametime), whose family struggles to get by in St. Louis, Missouri duringThe Great Depression. Like many of their neighbors, the Kurlanders canbarely hold onto their cheap, shabby hotel room, though they do theirbest to find work and keep up a facade of doing well. Aaron contributesto the charade by telling his classmates wild yet convincingly-toldstories of the glamor of his parents' lives as spies and archaeologistshobnobbing with the likes of Charles Lindbergh. Despite the Kurlanders'best efforts, they're slowly pulled apart when Aaron's travelingsalesman dad (Jeroen Krabbe) can't make enough money to feed everyone.Soon Aaron's little brother Sullivan (the appealing Cameron Boyd, wholooks strikingly like a little-boy version of the Olsen twins back intheir FULL HOUSE days) is sent to live with relatives for the timebeing; Mom (Lisa Eichhorn) has TB, eventually going to a sanitarium;and finally Dad finds a job as a traveling watch salesman in Oklahoma,leaving Aaron to fend for himself and dodge the mean hotel porter tokeep from being locked out of the family's apartment.Aaron tries all kinds of money-making schemes so he can bring hisfamily back home, but it seems like God or Fate or whoever is in chargeof KotH's universe insists on bitch-slapping the kid every step of theway. A rich, sympathetic classmate (who doesn't know Aaron's brokebecause our hero is too proud to admit it) gives Aaron canaries tobreed in order to sell them to the pet shop, but when the canaries areborn, they're all female, and female canaries don't sing, so all Aaroncan get is 50¢ for the lot of them. A pre-PIANIST Adrien Brody, about19 or 20 during filming, is a raffish presence as Lester, the juveniledelinquent down the hall with a heart of gold and a brotherly attitudetowards Aaron. Lester tries to include the kid in jobs such as caddyingfor rich golfers, but Aaron tees them off by losing the ball in theball-washing doohickey. Aaron tries to be kind to their neighbor Ella(Amber Benson), a sickly but sweet young girl, but that backfires whenshe gets so nervous dancing with him that she has an epileptic fit.When Aaron gets a medal during his graduation ceremony (nice bit withLester there to cheer as Aaron's name is called, what with theKurlanders being scattered all over the country), even that bit of joyis snatched from him as he overhears jealous classmates whispering thathe only got the medal because the school authorities know he's poor andfeel sorry for him (yeah, it couldn't possibly be because Aaron getsthe best grades and writes imaginative stories and essays that blowthose over-privileged brats out of the water).Over the course of KotH, just about everyone Aaron cares about iseither sent away, moves away, dies, or gets arrested. Jeez, if itwasn't one thing, it was another! Interestingly, it seems like everytime Aaron has an emotional upheaval, the film becomes more beautifulto look at, thanks to Elliot Davis' golden-hued photography, and yetthe film's beauty doesn't cheapen or sentimentalize the painful eventsour young hero must live through. Aaron and the film's other good guysare kind-hearted, unself-pitying, and earnest enough that I was rootingfor them even as I groaned to myself, "Good grief, isn't this poor kidever gonna catch a break?" Much like the final reel of THE PIANIST,when the resourceful Aaron's plans to reunite his family finallysucceed and life becomes good again, it's as much of a relief to usviewers as it is to the Kurlanders. Soderbergh's adaptation ofHotchner's life story often slathers the misery on so thick, I wasstill afraid something else might go horribly wrong for our beleagueredhero at the last minute. (For instance, as little brother Sullivanjumps up and down on his new bed, I half-expected him to accidentallybounce off the bed and break his neck. Don't worry, he doesn't. :-)). Icame away with the feeling that Aaron would never again take the goodthings in his life for granted. The delicate balance of drama and humorin Soderbergh's fine writing and direction, as well as superb actingfrom an ensemble that also includes Spalding Gray, Elizabeth McGovern,Karen Allen, and Lauryn Hill -- yup, that Lauryn Hill (who laterappeared with Brody in the 1998 indie drama RESTAURANT) -- makes KotH alittle gem well worth seeking out on TV, especially since it's stillnot on DVD but has been on the HBO and Cinemax lineups lately as ofthis writing. If you like fact-based stories about young peopleovercoming obstacles, or if you want to catch folks like Brody,Bradford, or a very young Katherine Heigl in memorable early roles,check out KotH.

2012-04-22 14:42:50

Loved it but why no DVD

This was filmed in my Town back in 1994 but I dont get why they never made a DVD of it it is a great movie and was the start of Adrian Brodys career.

2012-04-15 10:08:52

Sweet childhood film

Quite simply, this is one of the best childhood films I have ever seen. It has so much continuity, integrity and lyricism in presenting its subject, a little boy, that the film becomes a sweet parable on maturity, idealism, love, affection and god knows what else. This is one of the most thoroughly satisfying movie experiences I have had, and the director, Steven (sex, lies and videotape) Soderbergh, knows the subject inside out (in fact, he adapted the movie for the screen). The hero is the viewer's vicarious link to the events of the 1930's, when this movie takes place, and his performance is one of the most unaffected child performances you are likely to enjoy. Look at the photography, listen to the music, enjoy this movie, because this is one of the few pictures that I've seen that evokes the period of its subject so completely, that immerses the viewer in its young hero's trivial ( or life- threatening) dilemmas with such deftness . This is a movie to be praised for its depth of discernment of that tumultuous time period when "half Missouri would work for fifty cents" END

Robert Vann Smith 2012-04-15 04:12:04

Jesse Bradford Was King Of This Movie

I've known this movie has been out for a while but didn't get around toseeing it until this morning. I noticed it was made in1993.Jesse Bradford's character, Aaron Kurlander, is growing up during thedepression in the 1930's and like most kids his age during that time period,he had to grow up quickly in order to survive and help the family whilestill maintaining his childhood innocense.It's a delightful movie and well worth the time to viewit.I saw Jesse Bradford in a movie called "Swim Fan" a few months ago and hadnot made the connection that he was the boy in "King Of The Hill" until Icame across the information on the Internet Movie Database. He's grown upover the last nine years, that's for certain. (+:

joelovesbabs 2012-04-14 01:38:35

Shattering and unforgettable

Soderbergh delivers a heartfelt story that is both entertaining andcompelling, without getting too overly sentimental, but moving andinspiringnevertheless. The impeccable cast includes a smashing young Jesse Bradfordand a very appealing Adrien Brody in an early role. A definitemust.

tieman64 2012-04-13 15:48:52

The Spirit of St Louis

In the mid 90s, a streak of coming-of-age flicks were released, eachtrying to emulate the tone and style of Rob Reiner's "Stand by me"(1986). "Stand by Me" led to the TV series "The Wonder Years" (1988) which ledto Woody Allen's "Radio Days", "Brighton Beach Memoirs", "Man in theMoon" (1991), "Radio Flyer" (1992), "Jack the Bear" (1993), "This BoysLife" (1993), "Searching For Bobby Fisher" (1993), "King of the Hill","American Heart", "Now and Then" (1995), "Unsung Heroes" (1995), "TheMighty" (1998) and "Simon Birch" (1998) etc.These films all employed a rich and romantic visual style whichrecalled the paintings of Norman Rockwell. They featured older andwiser narrators who reminisced about their childhood days, revolvedaround small groups of young boys, largely took place in the 60s andearly 70s, and oozed a sense of nostalgia.So essentially these films are about the same thing. They're aboutescape. These kids (or rather their future adult/narrator selves) areall searching for a romanticised version of America. A forgotten - orperhaps nonexistent - age of white picket fences, carefree wandering,pop sodas and family dinners. Behind all this comfortable nostalgia,though, is a palatable sense of menace. Abuse, suicide, murder, thelingering effects of the Vietnam war and drunken fathers, all linger inthe background. This trend started in the 80s, by artists who were born post WW2 andbecame young men in the turbulent 60s. By the late 90s the "unseenenemy" of these films stopped being about war, poverty, absent fathers,abuse and alcoholism, and started to be about disease and geneticdisorders. Though fading, the idealised Norman Rockwell version ofAmericana was still there, but now Generation X seemed to obsess overdiseases and genetics. For Generation X, misery seemed to be all aboutailments and genetic predisposition, like the kids with Morquio'ssyndrome in "The Mighty" and "Simon Birch" or AIDS in "The Cure"."King of the Kill", a little known film by Steven Soderbergh, ishowever quite different from all the other films in this wave. Directedby a young man, the film is set in St Louis during the GreatDepression, and focuses on a young school boy called Aaron who uses hiswits to survive the economic hardships of 1930's America.An imaginative and creative boy, Aaron must survive on his own when hisfather abandons him, his mother is locked away in a mental hospital andhis little brother is sent off to boarding school. Initially Aarontakes to these dilemmas with strong shoulders, but gradually his harshworld begins to suffocate him. He has no food, he's in constant fear oflosing his apartment and is mocked by his classmates for being poor.Every misery and mishap imaginable seems to happen to Aaron, but thefilm, despite being shot in sepia hues, never becomes maudlin orimplausible. Soderbergh lets the film unfold like Truffaut, mixingtragedy with a very sensitive, deft touch. Now at first glance the film seems to be celebrating resilience,creativity and that good ole American Spirit. Indeed, the film beginswith Aaron reading a story he wrote about Charles Lindberg and theSpirit Of St Louis, the first man and plane to cross the Atlantic.Aaron, like Charles, is a symbol of heroism, persistence, nationalpride and creativity, a man/boy who triumphs despite the odds.But look closer and something darker seems to be going on. Aaron thinksup a genius scheme to sell birds to make money, but his birds are thewrong sex and aren't worth anything. Aaron then schemes to find theperfect clothes for a school function (in which he wins a top prize),but despite succeeding is teased by his classmates. Aaron, starving andhungry for food, then has enough imagination to cut out pictures offood from a book, but when he eats them, gets sick the following day.Likewise, Aaron is promised food at a restaurant, but the managerrefuses the deal and callously turns him away.Now think back to Aaron's scheme to breed birds and sell them for theirmoney. Aaron takes the birds to a pet store and attempts to sell them,at which point the store owner tells him the birds are worthlessbecause of their sex. Aaron agrees and walks away, the camera lingeringsuspiciously on the store owner for a moment. In an instant we knowthat this boy is being taken advantage of, and that the store ownerstands to gain far more than the boy will.What Soderbergh seems to be doing here, and throughout the film, is notcelebrate the "Spirit of St Louis", but show how this "Spirit" itselfcauses hardships. For one to triumph, another must suffer. For the poorman in the shop to make money, he must rip off a little kid. For arestaurant owner to stay in business, a poor boy must go hungry. Inother words, The Great American Spirit is itself a selfish, debasedthing, a grand cycle of victors triumphing only because others suffer.8/10 – This little known film by Steven Soderbergh may be one of hisbest. Makes a good companion piece to Soderbergh's "The GirlfriendExperience" and Charlie Chaplin's "The Kid", Chaplin's film perhapsbeing the first film of this kind to celebrate the downtrodden few whoretain their humanity despite the evil scheming and innateself-centredness of humanity.But to see this stuff done to perfection see "Seven Beauties", anItalian film which essentially takes Aaron and places him in war tornEurope during the Holocaust. Here, our hero is given not thebittersweet ending that Soderbergh serves, but learns that in extremetimes, survival requires nothing less than the total collapse ofcivility.