The Corner Penthouse

The Wild Child / Life Happens Double Feature Blu-ray contains two films featuring young female leads. Is it any good? Read on to find out...

The two films contained on this single disc have nothing in common with each other. There are no common themes, nor are there any common actors. The best connection that can be made is that they're both films that have females as their target audience, though even then, they both differ wildly. Wild Child is a PG-13 rated teen comedy geared towards teenage girls. Life Happens is an R-rated character study best suited for women in their late 20s/early 30s.


Wild Child (2008) tells the tale of sixteen-year-old Poppy (Emma Roberts), an L.A. teen diva who does what she wants, whenever she wants. After an over-the-top prank pushes her father (Aidan Quinn) one step too far, she finds herself shipped off to the one place where everything will change: a British boarding school. No cell phones, no designer clothes...no way. Desperate to break free, she sets in motion the ultimate escape plan involving the son (Alex Pettyfer) of headmistress Mrs. Kingsley (Natasha Richardson) – only to discover that this could be the reason she wants to stay.


This film came out at the height of Emma Roberts' teen popularity, following her success in the Nickelodeon TV series Unfabulous (2004-2007) and the lead roles in the films Aquamarine (2006) and Nancy Drew (2007). Although her "bad girl" act doesn't come across as very convincing, once she starts to have a change of attitude - something you should expect from a film like this - Emma gets to shine in the film, playing off all of her co-stars and just having a fun time. That's good for a movie like this, what I like to call a "comfort food movie". That's a movie that you know how it will play out before you ever watch it, but you stick with it to have a fun time watching it get from Point A to Point B. Yes, Wild Child doesn't tread any new ground. It plays just like every other "spoiled brat becomes a good person at the end"-type of film. It's the likability of the cast that makes it worth it. All of the cast's young girls are charming, and many have (to my knowledge) gone on to greater success. Natasha Richardson is great in the small role she was given as headmistress Mrs. Kingsley, in what would be her final film appearance. The movie is dedicated to her.


Wild Child is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:38:25. On the audio side, there is only an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Subtitles are available in English only. Below is a list of the bonus features for the movie

• Audio Commentary with director Nick Moore and writer Lucy Dahl
• Deleted Scenes (20:29) - Seven scenes shown back-to-back (no titles for them), including a 13.5 minute opening that is double the length of what appears in the final film. Some shots from the trailer that weren't in the film came from this sequence.
• The Making of Wild Child (11:34) - The usual EPK-style featurette that looks at the directing, writing, what it was like to be on the set, and more.
• Head Girl Tour (1:57) - Georgia King, in-character as mean girl Harriet, gives a tour of the campus.
• Lacrosse (3:58) - A light exploration of the young actresses learning to play the sport for the film.
• Ghostville (2:06) - Some of the cast explore the "haunted" basement of the school filming location.
• School Memories (2:58) - The cast talks about their real-life school experiences.
• Trailer (2:10)

Life Happens (2011) is a sharp and witty character study about single living, friendship, and the joys of life's curveballs. When a one-night-stand results in an unexpected pregnancy, things take a sudden turn for Kim (Krysten Ritter) and her roommates, Deena (Kate Bosworth) and Laura (Rachel Bilson). Jumping back into the dating scene, Kim copes with single motherhood amid fears that toting a tot will be a dating buzz-kill.


I've always liked the uniquely-beautiful Krysten Ritter, and it was interesting to see her play a single mother. While this movie is billed as a comedy, there aren't many laughs to be found here. (There is one involving breast milk that genuinely made me laugh out loud.) It's more of a character study of young women in their late 20s/early 30s, juggling work and/or motherhood, while trying to maintain their friendship with each other. It's almost documentary-like. That's not to say that it's a bad film. I enjoyed it and it kept my interest. It seems to accurately depict what life would be like for women like this, which makes sense since it was written by two women: star Krysten Ritter and director Kat Coiro. My only real complaint is that Rachel Bilson's character added nothing to the film and could have been easily written out without affecting anything.


Life Happens is presented in a 2.40:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 1:40:55. On the audio side, there is only an English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track. Subtitles are available in English only. Below is a list of the bonus features for the movie

• Trailer (2:19)

The Wild Child / Life Happens Blu-ray is available right now from Amazon for less than $15! At that price, you can't go wrong.




All images were taken from the IMDB galleries of the films: Wild Child and Life Happens. This item has been provided by Mill Creek Entertainment for review on this site.