Feeling unprepared for the 'real world', four recent college graduates spend their time philosophising and avoiding taking action in this feature film debut from Noah Baumbach. The film features witty, memorable dialogue left, right and centre as one friend reckons "I've begun reminiscing events before they even occur", while another comments "I feel like I'm being poisoned" if a bartender at a bar does not drink with him, and the list goes on. There is also some quite pointed in how unprepared the foursome are for the real world despite their extensive education, unleashed into the world like a baby not wanting to be born, as the title suggests. None of the characters are, however, particularly likable for all of their witticisms and at times thought-provoking conversations. The foursome actually come across as more lazy than scared or ill-prepared for post-college life, and none of them have especially vibrant personalities either. The brightest moments in the film are, in fact, had by Elliott Gould as the far too open father of the foursome, sharing his experiences with using condoms at his age and finding love post-marriage separation, much to the disgust of his son. The film does tap into something interesting though as the foursome come to realise that they feel "pressure ... to remain friends" post-graduation. This more than anything else captures how microcosmic college life is often considered to be and how different the actual world is. It's a different, inevitable phase of life involving a big transition indeed comparable to birth.
Review of Kicking and Screaming
