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Wild Child (film)
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Wikipedia article
'Wild Child' is a 2008 British American teen comedy film directed by Nick Moore and starring Emma Roberts, Alex Pettyfer, Georgia King, Kimberley Nixon, Juno Temple, Linzey Cocker, Sophie Wu, Aidan Quinn and Natasha Richardson. Roberts portrays Poppy Moore, a wealthy, spoiled teenager, who is admitted to a boarding school in England where she soon learns the true meaning of life and friendship. This was Richardson's final on-screen film role before her death the following year.
Plot
Poppy Moore, a wealthy Malibu teenager, executes a wild prank to ruin all of her widowed father's girlfriend's belongings. When her father, Gerry, arrives on the scene, he announces he will be sending her to a boarding school in England. At the school, she is greeted by headmistress Mrs. Kingsley and head girl, Harriet Bentley, who berates Poppy for her attitude. Poppy shares a bedroom with four girls: Kate, Josie, Kiki and Jennifer, known as "Drippy". Her rude and self-centered behavior leads to trouble when she insults the Matron, who confiscates their cellphones. All five are punished with detention. When Kate learns Poppy's mother died in a car crash when Poppy was eleven, she sympathizes with her. Kate lets Poppy use her actual phone to message her friend from back home, Ruby, who is secretly being intimate with Poppy's boyfriend, Roddy.
The girls decide to help Poppy get expelled to help return home. Together, they carry out several pranks, which gradually bring them closer together. When none of their plans work, they decide to have Poppy seduce the headmistress's son, Freddie, who is strictly forbidden from fraternizing with any of the girls. The girls go on a trip and Poppy removes her blonde hair dye, revealing her natural brunette hair. She dances with Freddie at the school dance, much to Harriet's dismay, but Poppy trips and hits her head. Freddie takes her outside for air, where he asks her out on a date.
The next day, Poppy discovers her talent for lacrosse and whips the school's team into shape, getting them into the finals. She finds herself falling for Freddie and they kiss before returning to school. Entering her room, Poppy finds her roommates reading an email supposedly sent by her, expressing she thinks all of her new friends are losers. She finds Freddie has received a similar email, as a result she is ignored by them. However, she never actually sent the email. With no one else to turn to, Poppy sneaks down to the cook's room and calls Ruby, who accidentally reveals how much she dislikes Poppy and she is seeing Roddy. Feeling even more alone, Poppy starts playing with her lighter and accidentally sets a curtain on fire. Hearing footsteps, she quickly puts out the fire and runs off. A few minutes later, she looks out her window to see a fire and immediately wakes the school.
When they find Drippy is missing, Poppy runs into the burning school to rescue her. After the fire is extinguished, Freddie finds her lighter and gives it back to her, refusing to hear any explanation. Realizing she no longer wants to leave, Poppy goes to the headmistress and takes the blame for the fire. Afterwards, she finds a portrait of her late mother in the 1976 Abbey Mount lacrosse team and begins to cry upon realizing her mother had attended the same school.
While Poppy waits for the Honour Court to decide whether she should be expelled, Freddie finds her crying and becomes convinced the fire was an accident, and forgives her. At the hearing, Poppy gives her testimony. Meanwhile, her roommates find out Poppy did not send the emails. Harriet mentions Poppy's lighter during the hearing and when the other girls say no lighter was ever mentioned, Harriet snaps at Poppy and then confesses to restarting the fire after Poppy had put it out. Poppy is subsequently absolved and Harriet is expelled.
Gerry comes to the lacrosse finals game and notices Poppy's dramatic change in appearance and how much she looks like her mother. He is amazed by his daughter's role as captain of the lacrosse team. Abbey Mount wins the lacrosse finals. Some months later, Poppy, her friends, and Freddie are relaxing in Malibu. Poppy ignores Ruby's phone calls, now fully aware Ruby was not a good friend. They prepare to jump off the cliff into the waters below.
Cast
*Emma Roberts as Poppy Moore, a wealthy, spoiled teenager living in Malibu.
*Alex Pettyfer as Freddie Kingsley, Mrs. Kingsley's son and Poppy's love interest, later boyfriend.
*Georgia King as Harriet Bentley, the head girl of Abbey Mount.
*Kimberley Nixon as Kate, Poppy's roommate.
*Juno Temple as Jennifer "Drippy" Logan, Poppy's roommate.
*Linzey Cocker as Josie, Poppy's roommate.
*Sophie Wu as Kiki, Poppy's roommate.
*Natasha Richardson as Mrs. Kingsley, Freddie's mother and the headmistress of Abbey Mount.
*Shirley Henderson as Matron
*Aidan Quinn as Gerry Moore, Poppy's widowed father.
*Ruby Thomas as Jane, Harriet's friend/lackey.
*Eleanor Turner-Moss as Charlotte, Harriet's friend/lackey.
*Lexi Ainsworth as Molly Moore, Poppy's sister.
*Shelby Young as Ruby, Poppy's ex-friend.
*Johnny Pacar as Roddy, Poppy's ex-boyfriend.
*Kelsey Sanders as Skye
*Nick Frost as Mr. Christopher, the hairdresser.
*Daisy Donovan as Miss Sara Rees-Withers, the sports mistress.
*Jason Watkins as Mr. Roger Nellist, the French teacher.
*Jessica Rizo as Cool Stranger
Production
The interiors of the boarding school were filmed at Cobham Hall in Kent. The facade of the school was filmed at Balls Park. They also filmed at 82 Main Street, 84 Main Street, 117 Main Street, and at the Bront Parsonage Museum in Haworth, Keighley, Bradford. Filming also took place in Harrogate, and at Robin Hood's Bay in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.
Reception
'Wild Child' was released in the United Kingdom on 15 August 2008, taking fifth place at the box office with $2,196,366 from 359 cinemas with an average of $6,118. In its fourth weekend, it dropped to twelfth place. As of November 2008, 'Wild Child' had grossed $8,235,794. In Australia, 'Wild Child' was released 18 September, taking fourth place with only 93 cinemas and making $315,114. The following week, it made a 60% increase with $566,918 but still slipped to 6th place. On 16 October, 'Wild Child' fell to 11th. As of November 2008, 'Wild Child' had grossed US$3,268,424 (A$4,236,579) in Australia. The film has been released in many other countries, proving popular in some: the Netherlands ($1,553,825) and not so popular in others. The film has grossed a worldwide total of $21,972,336. Universal had planned a North American release in the summer of 2009, but canceled it and chose to release the film directly to DVD.
Critical response
'Wild Child' has a 41% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes, based on 27 reviews with an average rating of 4.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "More mild than wild. This tween comedy mess falls flat on its face due to poor characters, poor direction and poor jokes". The Sun Online gave the film 2/5 saying "WILD? More like mild, unless you think short skirts and "horse face" put-downs are outrageous." Urban Cinefile gave 'Wild Child' a much more favourable review, stating "The film has an energy and honesty about it: it's lively, funny and smart and the characters are appealing."DVD release
'Wild Child' was released on DVD in the United Kingdom on 8 December 2008. In Australia, it was released on 15 January 2009. In the United States, it was released directly to DVD on 17 November 2009.
Soundtrack
'Wild Child: The Movie Soundtrack Party Album' is a soundtrack album by the film of the same name, released in the United Kingdom and Australia on 18 August 2008. In the United States, the soundtrack wasn't released.
;Track listing
;Other songs non-included
The following songs appeared in the movie and trailers, although they were not included on the soundtrack for the film, due to licensing restrictions:
* "Angels" Robbie Williams
* "Black Gloves" Goose
* "Chasing Pavements" Adele
* "Heaven Is a Place on Earth" Belinda Carlisle
* "I Got It from My Mama" will.i.am
* "Real Wild Child" Everlife
* "Roadkill Morning" Children of Bodom
* "Set 'Em Up" Imran Hanif
* "You Think I Don't Care" - Jack McManus
* "Surrender Your Groove" Geri Halliwell
* "Toxic" Britney Spears
References
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