More than just teen pregnancy
I greatly enjoyed "A Boy Called Dad" because it covers a difficult topic from a rather unusual angle being mostly through the eyes of the very young teen father. By casting Kyle Ward (who was actually 15) as Robbie who barely even looks 14, it highlights how young people still children themselves are thrust into hothouse of parenting from pregnancy arising from a random sexual encounter.At first you just assume Robbie is a typical feckless working class lad who walks away leaving the girl literally holding the baby but two events collide to dramatically turn his world upside down: the first being an unexpected reunion with his absent father and the second, a chance encounter with the mother's new boyfriend that sees Robbie run off with his infant son Elliot.
Ward puts in a stellar performance as a confused and angry early adolescent having to unexpectedly cope with his infant son AND trying to build a desperately needed relationship with his irresponsible father Joe brilliantly played by Ian Hart. Whilst the early scenes of Robbie with Elliot, as he fumbles with baby formula and diaper (nappy) changing, are far less dramatic than the reality of a hungry baby this young in soiled diapers ripped from the mother and carried across hill and dale for hours, nonetheless the helpless ignorance and desperation of a boy so young plunged into the reality of caring for a tiny infant is very well portrayed.
Also well portrayed is the forceful way teenagers can confront and attempt to disrupt the dysfunction of their parents. Early/mid adolescent boys particularly can have clarity like a hot knife through butter and can be like a bull in a china shop especially when righteously angry about parental neglect and abandonment.
The only thing preventing a 10 is some far fetched plot lines and casting. The ex girlfriend and solo mother Leanne is played by 16 year old Sacha Parkinson who could pass for 18. In the real world, a girl that age and her looks wouldn't look at a boy who looks 13 let alone sleep
with him - her later relationship with the gang member 19 year old boyfriend is eminently more believable. Likewise, the gang boyfriend on Merseyside is most likely to have a knife not a gun (a situation that would be very believable if set in a US city), so the accidental shooting scene is far fetched.
Overall the movie covers two hard topics very well. There are some touching moments when his Dad tries to teach Robbie to dance and the detailed examination of the source of Joe's irresponsible parenting is particularly well handled.
score 7/10
wrxsti54 31 July 2020
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw5955613/34965
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