DVD: Wild Child

Poppy (Emma Roberts) is a self-absorbed LA wild child, but since the tragic death of her mother she has become out of control and her latest prank has pushed her father (Aiden Quinn) one step too far. He packs her up and sends her off to Abbey Mount boarding school in England where he hopes the stern headmistress (Natasha Richardson) will transform his teen brat into a well-mannered and disciplined young lady.

Much to Poppy’s dismay, Abbey Mount is an all-girls boarding school with a dodgy uniform, a lacrosse team and shared dorm rooms. Poppy acts out in the hope that her behaviour will lead to expulsion and as she warms to her dorm mates Kate (Kimberley Nixon) Drippy (Juno Temple) and the others, they all vow to help her in her mission to get expelled which involves the headmistress’ out-of-bounds son, Freddie (Alex Pettyfer).

Wild Child isn’t exactly an original idea but it does have a few quirky moments and a reasonably good cast that mark it out from other films of this type. Emma Roberts (Julia Roberts’ niece) is annoying but not so much that you’ll dislike her, and she also has the whole LA be-yatch thing down to a T. However, it’s Juno Temple of Atonement fame who steals the film. She’s funny, ditzy and super cute to boot. Watch out for both of these actresses – they’re going to get better with age.

Wild Child does fall down in one or two places though, and particularly where Freddie is concerned. Is he a pupil at the school? Does he work? We never find out what he does or what he’s for other than simply being a conveniently-placed love interest. He’s the piece of the jigsaw that you find underneath the coffee table when you think you’ve already finished it.

Wild Child is sweet and light-hearted fun, but has a few moments that will make you cringe – especially a pre-lacrosse match war dance. Seeing a bunch of teenage girls re-enact the Haka makes you feel like someone has violated your eyeballs, but thankfully this takes place at the end of the film. It’s not a huge deal, but you needed to be warned.

Look, if you loved Mean Girls, 13 Going on 30 and What a Girl Wants then you will love this film. It will pass the time away in a jiffer and is mostly sugarcoated goodness with a drizzle of LA attitude.       R Shaw

You can buy Wild Child here.