gradyharp Some may balk at naming this a Christmas movie because of the subject matter, while others will see the reason for terming this very near perfect film as such. First, it takes place at Christmas, and second it is a story as sweet as the Gift of the Magi as far as different tales on the concept of gift giving. Lance Daly both wrote and directed KISSES and cast two extraordinary young actors in the main roles. His use of black and white to color in filming and his decision to focus the musical score on the works of Bob Dylan are two further bits of evidence that this is a man with a solid career before him. In an unnamed little town in Ireland adjoining families live in rather squalid psychological conditions. Kylie (Kelly O'Neill) lives with her parents and siblings in a state of constant bickering and chaos: Kylie's uncle has in the past added his own brand of psychological trauma to her life as we hear later in the film. Next door lives Dylan (Shane Curry), a lad Kylie's age who lives with a severely abusive father and submissive mother. It is Christmas Eve and there is not a bit of joy in the air: Kylie is sent off to walk the baby and is verbally abused by schoolmates while Dylan finally is fed up with his father's behavior (Paul Roe) and after a scuffle flees out the window - with Kylie's help. The two youngsters cannot bear their disgusting family situations and off they go, finding a ride with a riverboat dredger captain (David Bendito) who introduces the to the songs of Bob Dylan. The two end up in Dublin where they struggle for food and shelter, encounter some rather gross behaving people, as well as meeting good people like Bob Dylan (Stephen Rea) for a moment and as they look for Dylan's long vanished brother they meet a street girl (Elizabeth Fuh) who when asked how she survives plying her trade tells Dylan that her only gift to people she meets is a kiss - and she gently kisses Dylan on the cheek. After finding that life on the streets of Dublin at night is very rough the two seek help from a policeman who helps them return to their homes. But a bond has been formed between Kylie and Dylan and the story just ends. Lance Daly is a sensitive director; the portions of the story taking place in the home of the kids are shot in black and white and it is only as Kylie and Dylan discover Bob Dylan's music courtesy of the dredger does the film gradually turn to color. He also is unafraid to show the joys of the two kids as they buy things in Dublin (Kylie's uncle gave her some hush money) and shoe skate around in their new found freedom and happiness, a factor that makes the rest of the story - which is rather dreary and sad - palatable. The two young actors are superb and the music of Bob Dylan floods the screen. This is a small budget film with a big message. And part of that message is about the significance of a simple gift. Grady Harp

jdesando 'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form. "Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm." Bob DylanShort, bleak, and brilliant—Kisses is an Irish picaresque of two 11 year-old working class kids, Kylie and Dylan, escaping at Christmas time abusive relatives from each one's home. Their odyssey takes them the streets of inner-city Dublin, where Kylie is abducted by rapists and Dylan discovers his love for her as he fights the devils, who indeed are people, not the mythical "Sack Man" they've feared in their neighborhood horror lore.The titular motif plays as an ironic reminder that life can give monstrous and beautiful at the same time: kisses that signify the unbridled lust of an uncle or a gift, the only thing one has, between two kids who have yet fully to understand the ambivalence. One "ting" is certain-- there is some beauty in the outer world: the immigrant dredge-boat driver, who gives them a ride to the city, is playful while he gets them happily to work for him as he introduces them to Dylan's namesake through a song (see above) that speaks of offering shelter from a storm.Filmmaker Lance Shelby has done the difficult by extracting love from an unforgiving landscape, like Mike Leigh's kitchen sink blokes caught in the suburbs with no one to save them yet finding hope in small gestures, like kisses, that cost little but mean much. Shelby's transition from black and white boondocks to color inner-city is too much of a cliché to be praised, but the black and white is effective as metaphor for the colorless world of the poor burbs.While the families are over the top also, or at least too unbelievably oppressive and crude, from the children's point of view, they are the devil until the kids meet the real one in the abductor/rapist. Lessons are to be learned even if the classroom is the school of hard knocks. After all, just north of them Irish have been killing Irish for decades."There's no devil. Just people." Kylie

razmatazern Kisses is an entertaining and unique film. It was interesting to watch the story of two Irish kids that run away from home unravel. Experiencing the journey with them is thoroughly enjoyable and exciting, yet believable and did not seem far-fetched.I loved the character of Kylie. Her very expressive spirit definitely added to the storyline and made for an interesting character. Dylan's apathetic, yet pensive essence was a nice contrast to Kylie's character. The acting by Kelly O'Neill and Shane Curry was remarkable, and they definitely need to be commended.The mood of the film was directly correlated with the music, and fortunately, the music was perfect to set the mood. I'm glad that I had a chance to watch it. I especially loved all of the Bob Dylan references.

DICK STEEL Written and directed by Lance Daly, Kisses is one of those little enjoyable gems that had its main leads breathe life to a fairly simple plot of a road movie of sorts, set around Christmas in the streets of Dublin, following the adventures of two children Dylan (Shane Curry) and Kylie (Kelly O'Neill), neighbours who decide to run away from their dreadful family members, and spiteful peers with whom they cannot clique.Told in three main acts and bookended by black and white cinematography used to highlight the bleakness of their family lives full of constant bickering, violence, and an unspeakable act which will be revealed, these two loner kids find some common ground to want to escape together to the big unknown, with nary a clue and only a wad of cash which they bust on material goods.Like a typical road movie, the people they meet become episodic scenes in which the film got made up of, some extended, like the friendly boat man they meet early in their adventures, right down to the seedy kidnappers who take a fancy at Kylie, either for personal pleasure or for some money making scheme, and some fleeting, such as the surreal chancing of a Bob Dylan lookalike (played by Stephen Rea). It's a spectrum of the nice and the nasties, and the duo have only each other to help look out for, while trying to search for Dylan's long longs brother with whom they hope will take them in.It's a somewhat short feature film that becomes something like a travelogue where we get to see both the glitzier side of Dublin, and the stark nakedness of its grit, from unsavoury back alleys, to sub-urban neighbourhoods as we follow the kids in their attempt to survive on their own. Being short in run time, it managed to hold your attention throughout thanks to the wonderfully charismatic performances by the child actors Shane Curry and Kelly O'Neill, especially the latter as the vulnerable yet spunky Kylie who's more street smart than the dazed Dylan, and its indeed a wonder how she can actually fall for him.One of my personal favourite scenes would be the ending, with its surreal like moments in slow motion, and the wry smile that both of them exchange, in acknowledging their relationship is now at a different plane, coupled with that tinge of mischief that they've had quite an adventure and had a good run. While being very foul mouthed, I thought the parting shot was oh-so-sweet, that it made you want more, just like how Kisses in the film got explained as something to be given or taken, with that desire and craving to go at it all over again.Don't be put off by the thick Irish accent, as the film comes with English subtitles so that you can follow the humour, and adventures of two kids on the run from weariness, for that adventure of a lifetime. Recommended!