''Rich Kids'' is a 1979 American

comedy-drama film Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

directed by Robert M. Young and starring

Trini Alvarado Trinidad "Trini" Alvarado (born January 10, 1967) is an American actress best known for her performances as Margaret "Meg" March in the 1994 film adaptation of Louisa May Alcott's novel ''Little Women'' and Lucy Lynskey in the comedy/horror fi ...

and Jeremy Levy. It was nominated for two

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

s at the 1st Youth in Film Awards, held in 1979.

Premise

Two 12-year-olds, the products of

Upper West Side The Upper West Side (UWS) is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by Central Park on the east, the Hudson River on the west, West 59th Street to the south, and West 110th Street to the north. The Upper West ...

broken homes, struggle to make sense of their parents' lives and their own adolescent feelings.

Cast

as Franny Phillips * Jeremy Levy as Jamie Harris *

Kathryn Walker Kathryn Walker is an American theater, television and film actress. Biography Walker was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wells College in Aurora, New York, and was a Fulbright Scholar in music and dra ...

as Madeline Phillips * John Lithgow as Paul Phillips * Terry Kiser as Ralph Harris * David Selby as Steve Sloan *

Paul Dooley Paul Dooley (born Paul Brown; February 22, 1928) is an American character actor, writer and comedian. He is known for his roles in '' Breaking Away'', '' Sixteen Candles'', and ''Popeye''. Early life Dooley was born Paul Brown on February 22, ...

as Simon Peterfreund *

Roberta Maxwell Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941) is a Canadian stage, film, and television actress. Biography Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark for two years as the child co-host of his '' Junior Magaz ...

as Barbara Peterfreund *

Beatrice Winde Beatrice Winde (born Beatrice Lucille Williams; January 5, 1924 – January 3, 2004) was an American actress. Her work as a character actor, and a singer, in theatrical, television, and film roles, spanned several decades. Life and career W ...

as Corine This was the first film for both Alvarado and Levy, who were top-billed: a rare distinction for actors making their film debut. (Alvarado went onto a long career in films and television, but "Rich Kids" was Levy's first and only film: afterwards, he dropped out of acting and later became a physics professor at the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the univers ...

Reception

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' called the film a "beautifully acted, sometimes very funny new comedy" that "observes its characters with sensitivity as well as humor." A review in ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' called the film "mildly funny, mildly heart-tugging and extremely well acted," though "the serious underpinnings are frequently undermined and diluted by sitcom contrivances." Gene Siskel of the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television a ...

'' gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and called it "a weak imitation of Paul Mazursky's '

An Unmarried Woman ''An Unmarried Woman'' is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Mazursky and starring Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates and Michael Murphy. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Original ...

,'" adding, "It's clear the film would like to develop our sympathy for the girl's mother, who is trying to get herself together in order to face life alone. But every time the film begins to develop her character, it cuts away to the cutesy, idyllic story of the two kids, and we're back to a 'precious youngsters' film."

Charles Champlin Charles Davenport Champlin (March 23, 1926 – November 16, 2014) was an American film critic and writer. Life and career Champlin was born in Hammondsport, New York. He attended high school in Camden, New York, working as a columnist for the ...

of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' called the film "exactly what it set out to be, a nice little picture, refreshing and unimposing as a new wine and with a very pleasant aftertaste."

Judith Martin Judith Martin (née Perlman; born September 13, 1938), better known by the pen name Miss Manners, is an American columnist, author, and etiquette authority. Early life and career Martin is the daughter of Helen and Jacob Perlman. Her father w ...

of ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' wrote, "Some of it is funny and some touching, and the low-key, realistic writing (by Judith Ross) and acting (by Trini Alvarado and Jeremy Levy as the children, and Kathryn Walker, John Lithgow, Terry Kiser, Roberta Maxwell and Paul Dooley as the adults) make many episodes seem valid. But when the children talk them over, with their superior moral sense and vaster understanding, heartwarming is not really the term for them. 'Insufferable' would be more like it."

Jack Kroll John Kroll (''ca.'' 1926 – June 8, 2000) was a ''Newsweek'' drama and film critic. His career spanned 37 years – more than half the publication's existence. Biography Kroll was born in Manhattan. His mother was an Earl Carroll showgirl and ...

of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' called the film "a stylish, affectionate look at the great American institution of divorce among the affluent ... Twelve-year-old Trini Alvarado and 14-year-old Jeremy Levy are very appealing and directed well by Young: their half-forlorn, half-cynical sagacity is funny and touching, and their friendship, with its tentative sexuality, is the realest relationship in the movie."

Tom Milne Tom Milne (2 April 1926 – 14 December 2005) was a British film critic. See also After war service, he studied English and French at Aberdeen University and later at the Sorbonne. Interested in the theatre too, he wrote for the magazine ' ...

of ''

The Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' wrote, "''Rich Kids'' must have seemed like a good idea at the time, contrasting the innocent candour of childhood mendacity with the altogether more harmful adult variety. In the event, however, the script is much too cute for its own good."

References

External links

* * * {{Robert M. Young 1979 films 1970s coming-of-age comedy-drama films American coming-of-age comedy-drama films Films set in New York City United Artists films Films directed by Robert M. Young 1979 comedy films 1979 drama films Films about puberty Films about divorce American teen romance films 1970s English-language films 1970s American films