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Berserker's avatar

Do you know about any movies that deal with problem children/teenagers?

Asked by Berserker (33548points) May 14th, 2011

I watched this Canadian movie called Little Criminals years ago in school, and found it again online yesterday. It deals with this 11 year old boy, Des. He’s rather neglected by his mother, and spends most of his time committing crimes, like burglary and insurance fraud. (setting places on fire, and collecting some money from the owner after) He does all sorts of drugs, and is a pain in the ass to anyone who encounters him. However, he’s very charismatic and wise, and many other young delinquents look up to him. He has his own type of gang, and even the adults are often puzzled, frightened or moved by him.
However, deep inside, Des is tormented and hurt beyond repair, and seeks to die, which is why he always goes all out. A lot of this can be picked up through his drawings, which he keeps secret from everyone, but it becomes very apparent later on how much of a mess he is inside.
The story centers around his meeting with Corey, another troubled young boy, who simply can’t accept his family situation. His mother’s going out with this dude, and Corey totally resents him. He’s also quite violent, and got kicked out of his school for fighting. (he ends up going to Des’s school, and if Canada actually has a school like that, it needs to reevaluate its educational system XD ) Shy and reserved, Corey never expresses himself, unless it’s through fighting, but only if messed with. He’s not as headstrong or able like Des.
When they meet, they become friends fast, as it seems both have something the other needs, and Corey ends up in Des’s gang. Then the shit really starts hitting the fan, as the story declines further and further into tragedy. Some of the acting is a bit odd, but the movie is really sad, although quite entertaining.

So this is an example of the type of movie I’m looking for. Stuff about problem children, teenagers, or stories about youth and crime. Can you recommend anything?

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27 Answers

mazingerz88's avatar

Bugsy Malone comes to mind but sorry it’s a parody on American gangsters played by kid actors. I know what you mean though and I’ll post that film you might be looking for. I won’t sleep until I get the title. Be back.

AmWiser's avatar

Kids
An amoral, HIV-positive skateboarder sets out to deflower as many virgins as possible while a local girl who contracted his disease tries to save his next target from her same fate.

Kardamom's avatar

There were 2 great movies from the early 1970’s starring Linda Blair (of Excorcist fame, so you should appreciate them even more). The first one is called Born Innocent about a young girl who keeps running away from home and gets into enough trouble to land her in a juvenile detention center where she ends up getting raped.

The other one is about a girl who slowly, but surely becomes an alcoholic after sipping drinks at her parent’s parties and getting involved with older kids who drink and persuade her to do the same. The second one is called Sarah T. Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic

Berserker's avatar

Wow, some of these sound quite disturbing, especially Kids, Born Innocent and River’s Edge. They all seem interesting, thanks for the suggestions guys. Now I denno what to go with first haha.

@Brian1946 Lmao :p

gailcalled's avatar

The Four Hundred Blows

“Intensely touching story of a misunderstood young adolescent who left without attention, delves into a life of petty crime.” 1959 (French; Les quatre cents coups)

This won many awards.

mazingerz88's avatar

@Symbeline ok I got it, try This Is England and a less serious one but a good family drama with problematic kids nonetheless, Men Don’t Leave.

Harry Potter counts?

Berserker's avatar

@gailcalled I heard of that before yeah, but never saw it. Sounds cool though, thanks.

@mazingerz88 No, Harry Potter dun count. XD I’ll check out for your other ones though.

Berserker's avatar

@Vunessuh Heard a lot about this one too. Hmm…psycho cousin…intriguing.

Kardamom's avatar

There was a French movie from 1996 called Ponette about a little 4 year old girl who’s mother has died. She ends up withdrawing from the world around her. The most disturbing thing about this film, though, is the fact that they literally put this 4 year old actress through hell to get her to cry on cue. It’s sad and disturbing, but has a happy ending and this little girl is so sweet that you just want to get on a plane bound for France and find her and love her.

There’s a really great movie from 1997 called Ma Vie en Rose about a little boy who dresses up in girls clothes. Because it’s set in France and not the U.S. the kid is just seen as a little odd, very sweet, but not like some freak of nature.

Then there is another good movie from Korea called The Way Home from 2002 about a selfish, naughty little boy who is sent to live with his grandmother in the countryside, while his mother looks for work in the city. This kid is so awful that you will want to beat him senseless, but by the end of the movie, he becomes transformed.

And of course there is Paper Moon from the early 1970’s starring both Tatum O’Neal and her Dad. Addie is about 8 or 9 years old and has suddenly become an orphan. She ends up following (much to his chagrin) a traveling salesman who is really a con man. By the time he discovers that she has stowed away with him, they go on an adventure across the dustbowl. The most shocking scene is when the salesman discovers Addie Smoking in the motel room. This was extremely shocking to me and my friends at the time. This is one of the best and funniest movies that I’ve ever seen. And Tatum was such a cutie when she was a little kid. And Ryan O’Neal was one hot hottie!

Then there was a mid 70’s movie starring Jody Foster called The Little Girl that Lived Down the Lane about a mysterious girl who appears to be living alone in a big scary mansion. This is right up your alley : )

And then there is another mid 70’s movie starring Tatum O’Neal, Christy McNichol and Matt Dillon that is about 2 girls from different sides of the tracks who end up at the same summer camp. They hate each other, and they both end up in a contest to see who loses their virginity first (both of them have a crush on Armand Assante the camp counselor, who is in his 30’s). They’re only about 14 years old, so this too was extremely shocking at the time. This one is called Little Darlings

And this one, called The Last American Virgin is about a teenaged boy in the late 70’s going to great lengths to lose his virginity. It has prostitutes, drug use, drinking, un-protected sex and a teenaged pregnancy that gets terminated by an abortion. This is actually a very funny movie, but this is fairly accurate with regards to the types of things that were going on when I was in high school.

These ought to keep you busy for awhile : )

Berserker's avatar

Ma Vie En Rose, i heard of that before, I think people liked it a lot? Ponette sounds really intriguing, but what you describe about the movie making is a bit freaky…guess I won’t question the realism there lol.

And yeah lol, there was an adult cartoon (The Oblongs) that made one of its episodes a parody of The Little Girl that Lived down the Lane, apparently. I didn’t know that came from a movie at the time though. Thanks for the suggestions. :) Man you sure know a lot about movies lol. :)

Vunessuh's avatar

@Kardamom I started watching Ponette a few days ago. It’s great, @Symbeline. You should definitely check it out. It’s pretty sad, though. I want to reach through my screen and hug that little girl.

Berserker's avatar

Got a hold of it right now. So I’ll start with that at the mo.

Berserker's avatar

@Blueroses I’m pretty sure The Simpsons made a parody of that, too. Seems really cool though. ’‘adds to list’’

Watching Ponette right now. This is disturbing. Whether he was right or not, as if her dad told her that God was for the dead, not the living. Gah. Also, Jesus was jailed by witches, this little chick is totally awesome. :)

Kardamom's avatar

@filmfann Oh yes! Stand By Me. One of the best movies of all time.

jonsblond's avatar

Not sure if it’s quite what you are looking for @Symbeline, but after @filmfann mentioned Stand By Me it made me think of The Bad News Bears.

Freeway is a movie I think you might like, if you haven’t seen it yet.

Berserker's avatar

@Ponette Wow this movie is disturbing, but not in a way that’s totally hardcore. It’s a really deep movie when you pay attention. There’s something in there I think I may have got wrong. Either way, I really liked it, really special.

And thanks for all the suggestions everyone. What’s next for me to pick in all those, hmm.

Blueroses's avatar

Oh! If you have Netflix and you haven’t seen it yet, I definitely recommend the first series of Skins (UK version, the US series is crap).

jca's avatar

Wasn’t there one called Bad Girls? It was out around the same time as Thirteen.

ucme's avatar

Scary bastards!!
Probably not what you meant but, i’d say they had one big problem!

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