Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.0

Wild Child Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman February 20, 2020

This Blu-ray release of Director Nick Moore's 'Wild Child' is currently only available in a two film collection with 'Life Happens.'

Poppy (Emma Roberts) is a rebellious teenager, a spoiled California coast brat who lives a life of luxury but who is, at the same time, distant from her father (Aidan Quinn) since her mother’s passing. When she pushes too far, one more time, her father makes good on a longtime threat to send her to boarding school half a world away in England. Poppy is none too pleased with the prospect of leaving behind everything she has and everyone she knows (but at least they speak American over there, she says). When she arrives, she finds herself an outcast but quickly discovers her place in the world, and a love interest in the only boy on the local radar: the handsome Freddy (Alex Pettyfer) who happens to be the the headmistress’ (Natasha Richardson) son.

Wild Child is stock stuff, a film of modest aspirations and meager returns. The story is paper thin and instantly recognizable with no surprises and no drama along the way. Even the laughs are stymied, failing to take off with any contagious cadence or regularity. The characters are stock but performed adequately enough with some commendable enthusiasm where little should probably exist. The movie defines disposable entertainment: it's perfectly adequate in all areas but it excels in none. It's good for a quick diversion but audiences won't find anything meaningful, and certainly not the next Clueless or anything in that same ballpark, inside.

Wild Child Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Wild Child ranks as one of the better looking Mill Creek releases on the market. The 1080p picture is consistently sharp and revealing, accurate to the source and never struggling to display fine details with ease. Textural efficiency is high, showing characters in plenty of makeup and clear, clean skin with commendable accuracy. Some older and less "perfect" characters show various skin textures to screen-commanding complexity, while a range of clothes from business attire to high dollar party outfits show fine point fabric and stitch definition. Environmental clarity is excellent, too, with the school coming alive whether in dorms, classrooms, or the common areas outside. Colors are fruitfully engaging. Depth is fine, even if contrast is not pushed at all hard. Tones are a tad light if they are anything, but there's a pleasing level of natural vitality to the whole spectrum, from brightly colored makeup and leafy greens to aged and worn wood and brick accents around the school. Flesh tones appear accurate and black levels are quite good (look at a low light reading shot at the 34:20 mark for an example). There are some mild compression artifacts -- look at blue skies seen from an upward facing camera angle in the film's opening minutes -- but rarely do they rise to a level of distracting interference. This is a very nice presentation, even as it's sharing precious disc space with another title.

Wild Child Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Wild Child's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 lossless soundtrack is not too unruly. The presentation lacks total command and lifelike clarity and depth, obvious immediately from the Universal logo, but listeners will find enough in the way of agreeable spacing and basic clarity to enjoy its fruits. The track presents the film's music -- score and popular beats alike -- with pleasing command of the material for both stage placement and detail. There's not total lifelike transparency anywhere within the range, particularly down low, but everything works well enough to allow listeners to invest in the various Pop tunes along the way. The track presents a nice array of natural ambient effects around the school -- chirping birds, hooting owls, lightly blowing winds, falling rain -- with impressive stage placement and a sense of envelopment; even when the sounds are not completely dominant the listener will feel more or less a part of the location. Dialogue clarity is excellent and holds firm to a pure front center location, save for when natural reverb carries it a bit beyond for spacial effect.

Wild Child Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Mill Creek release of Wild Child, as it shares the disc with Life Happens, includes a fairly deep assortment of extra content.

• Audio Commentary: Director Nick Moore and Writer Lucy Dahl discuss the film.
• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 20:29 total runtime): Seven scenes, including a lengthy open, are lumped together.
• The Making of Wild Child (1080i, 11:34): A quick look at Moore's direction, Dahl's scriptwriting, life on the set, casting and performances, actor camaraderie, making the Lacrosse scenes, physical training, and more.
• Head Girl Tour (1080i, 1:57): Character Harriet tours the campus in an all-too-brief look through the main locations.
• Lacrosse (1080i, 3:58): The girls talk about the process of learning to play the sport for the film. Included are raw clips from practice sessions.
• Ghostville (1080i, 2:06): Touring the "haunted" corners of the school.
• School Memories (1080i, 2:58): The cast shares what happened to them in school.
• Trailer (1080p, 2:10).

Wild Child Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Wild Child doesn't really live up to its name. It's not bold or abrasive even if its character is. The film lacks rhythm, playing more like a series of vignette adventures with a common thread and character at the center. It's agreeable enough as a diversion but there are plenty of other, better films in similar styles. Mill Creek's Blu-ray, currently only available on the same disc with another film, delivers healthy video and audio presentations. In a rare move for the studio, a fairly full suite of extras are included. Worth a look.