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The Kid with a Bike
The Kid with a Bike Image
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Metascore
87 out of 100

Universal acclaim - based on 33 Critics What's this?

User Score
7.3 out of 10

Generally favorable reviews- based on 12 Ratings

Your Score
10 out of 10
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  • Summary: When his father abandons him, Cyril obsessively tries to find his bicycle—after all, his father must have cared about him enough not to sell that off, he reasons. Almost by accident, he becomes the ward of a kind hairdresser, a woman who seems surprised to find herself so determined to help him. With his wild, unpredictable behavior and his disastrous search for father figures, Cyril risks losing her—though she refuses to give up without a fight. Full of heartbreaking betrayals and unexpected grace, The Kid With A Bike is a film about a child, abandoned to the elements, learning to become good. (Sundance Selects)… Expand

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 31 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. Washington Post
    Reviewed by: Ann Hornaday
    Apr 5, 2012
    100
    Leery filmgoers can exhale: The Kid With a Bike may hew faithfully to the Dardennes' house style of spare, lucid storytelling. But without giving anything away, let's just say that with this simple, deeply affecting tale, they never set out to break your heart.
  2. Boston Globe
    Reviewed by: Ty Burr
    Mar 29, 2012
    100
    The Dardennes achieve lyricism without seeming to try.
  3. Boxoffice Magazine
    Reviewed by: Richard Mowe
    Mar 12, 2012
    60
    It is the boy's tough exterior and lack of self-pity that binds the narrative together, making this one of the Dardennes' most appealing undertakings.

See all 33 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 6 out of 8
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 8
  3. Negative: 1 out of 8
  1. TinaB
    10
    This is a movie that draws you in and holds your attention, because you care very much what happens to the main character. It's a movie about fate that ends on an optimistic note. Outstanding acting.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. TVJerry
    5
    This film examines the plight of a boy whose father abandons him. From a group home to a foster parent to rejection to trouble, this is as bleak as you'd expect from the French. Also, the pacing is Gallic, which means glacially slow: every scene runs just a bit longer than necessary. It starts with promise, but the relentless misfortune makes it a dreary downer.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. GreatMartin
    3
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. We never find out what happened to Cyril's mother but we do know his father doesn't want him and also sold his bike which Cyril gets back along with the foster mother he finds in a doctor's office. It only takes the first 20 minutes of this 88 minute film to find that out along with the fact that he lives in a foster home. Along with watching Cyril ride his bike at all kinds of speeds in all kinds of directions plus very intrusive bars of Beethoven we watch him become involved with all sorts of situations that in an American film would have sent "The Kid With A Bike" in a completely different direction than this French film goes. When Samantha, played by Cecile de France, the woman who becomes Cyril's (Thomas Doret) weekend foster mom, is asked by her boyfriend to choose between him and Cyril she chooses the latter. Cyril is befriended by Wes (Egon de Mateo) a drug dealer and thief who comes from the same foster home who seems to be leading Cyril in an additional direction besides becoming a robber. Will Samantha make everything right? Will she love, hold on to, Cyril enough to turn him away from he life Wes seems to be taking him? Will Cyril get his father back? Will get on his bike and go in the right direction? That last question isn't as crazy as it sounds because a lot is not explained in this film including who Cyril is and what he wants or needs except his father and bike. Cecile de France gives a warm performance who slowly brings the boy into a circle of love while Thomas Doret goes through the film mainly looking angry. Jeremie Renier has the small but tough role of a man who feels he has no choice but to give his son up. Egon de Mateo is scary as the drug dealer who leads Cyril astray and into a tough spot. The co-directors, and co-writers, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne didn't seem, to me, to know what to do except give Doret more reasons not to be loved and, yet, let him be loved more and more while whenever they didn't know what to do they put him on a bike and had him ride around. I just finished reading the New York Times review which brings a whole religious aspect to it. I very seldom ever read reviews before I see a film and after reading these reviews I wonder if I saw the same film, did all the themes go over my head or did I just not get it?… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes

See all 8 User Reviews

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