Kisses deserves accolades and wide distribution. It has much to recommend, from the beguiling performances to the shifting colour palette to the score. The story unfolds as two Irish kids run away from their dysfunctional homes into Dublin. Writer/director Lance Daly creates a film that is both starkly realistic and playful. Kylie and Dylan lighting out for freedom is exhilarating for them and for the audience. But Daly knows that whimsy is easily interrupted by unpleasantness and the consequences of Kylie and Dylan's escape eventually intrude on the pair's fun. Though the film flirts with implausibility a couple of times, Daly largely avoids the trap of movie contrivance (e.g. a Bob Dylan-related scene is cleverly handled). Throughout he crafts a series of mini-adventures that are thoroughly enjoyable and sometimes unexpectedly so. Two otherwise dreary locales are invigorated in sequences where the kids tear up a shopping mall and climb aboard a river dredger.
Kelly O'Neill (Kylie) and Shane Curry (Dylan) are wonderfully natural and compelling. If the post-screening Q&A is any indication, they are much like their characters - Kylie, the adventurous, vivacious spitfire and Dylan, the reluctant, taciturn accomplice. This film is the first for both and O'Neill, particularly, should end up with a busy career if she wants one. Kisses is Daly's third outing. With luck he will make many more films of its quality.
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