Dustbin Baby

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Audience Member Poor. Not only was the story poorly told, but for the most part, the acting was atrocious. Poor casting for almost all of the characters (bar Marion) and a bastardisation of a well-loved childrens book has led to less of a nostalgia trip and more of an anger-inducing mockery. Unfortunately, the same can be said for all other film adaptions of WIlson's books. The emotional attachment to characters, the feeling, the anxiety, and the effect of taking a journey with April was not found here. Awful. Rated 1.5/5 Stars •  Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 02/18/23 Full Review Audience Member What a sad story!! It isn't real but this has gone on a lot. I did not like Marion and felt she was too insensitive. April had no a single person who actually LOVED her. Broke my heart. During the first half of the film I did not like Dakota's acting. I have seen her in two other films and hated her in those, but she acted fine in this in the latter half. I really liked the child April's too (sure there were about 3???). IT was really sad and did affect me a bit and the best out of all 3 Jacqueline Wilson movies (that is how I knew of the film as I used to like Jackie's books. Never read the book of this one) I felt April should've been a little less 'soft' in points and deserved better than Marion (even though she was alright to her at her home, April badly needed love). Overall a great film. I wish 'April' didn't wear earrings and mascara so much during the film. Where does the money for it come from? Dakota played her pretty well though considering she could not relate at all to the character. So that's neat. Shame she never found her mother which is really sad. But best she doesn't know the woman that dumped her in such a horrible way!! I really liked how deeply they went into April's upbringing. It made me understand her so much and I really liked how much they explored her character. 10 billion times better than 'The Illustrated mum'!! The pizza boy bit with the mobile number was so sweet.... I just wish that guy was younger (with no wife and kids) and could be her boyfriend!! He put the number there incase she came back! Didn't like the ex pizza guy's acting and Dakota's ending at the very end. BUT the bit when she said "YOU'RE MINE MARION, YOU'RE REALLY MINE". Got me to tear a little bit, didn't have a LOT of emotional effect on me, but it was really beautiful anyway. The ending was absolutely perfect. Beautiful ending! Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This film is amzing and heart-touching. The story of the dustbin baby is so sad but beautiful. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member I don't tend to watch films made for television as they rarely work due to limitations. Dustbin Baby might not use it's interesting premise to it full advantage, but it's good in the end. Dustbin Baby is about a April, a troubled teenager who was abandoned in a dustbin as an infant and searches for her past. The setup is what got me interested in the first place and couldn't wait to see where it was going to take the story. Unfortunately the direction the plot takes is not as interesting as it could have been. I like the nonlinear storytelling, but it heavily relies on flashbacks to tell the story. April adoptive mother is a moron, she actually believes that April ran away from home because she didn't get April her "mobile" (they never refer to it as a cell-phone). Would you believe the last place she looks is the place April was abandoned as a infant despite knowing that she was abandoned there on her birthday. It does have it good moments, like the flashbacks when April was a young girl are effectively emotional. April is a interesting female character who's three dimensional and the more she developed it got interesting. My main problem from the plot is that instead solely concentrating on April exploring into her past, we have boring scenes of April adoptive mother looking her. Even though Dustbin Baby doesn't effectively uses it setup properly, it does have it moments. The acting by our leading lady, Dakota Blue Richards, is nothing special, but you could tell she has potential. Unlike most of actresses her age like Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez, I actually thought Dakota Blue Richards has talent and makes me wonder why she isn't more popular. The rest of the cast acting is mix. In ones scenes it sounded like a woman was laughing, but the music tells you that she's crying. It's kinda embarrassing when music has to tell you what emotion is given. The direction is actually good, I was never confuse in what was going on and it told the story well despite it flaws. Now there's a novel by the same name which I have never read so I don't know if fans of the novel will enjoy it. The movie itself could have been better, but considering the limitations of television I can't the same level of quality for as a feature film. It did have effort going into it and heart, though the payoff is not as good as it could have been. Dustbin Baby is not as it could have been, but it not bad for a movie made for television. It's not bad watch to be honest, but you will wish it was better if you do watch it. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member I thought it was okay... Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/17/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie is heartbreaking but really good. I feel for April because she feels so alone and she doesn't even want to tell her friends about herself. I love how flashbacks are used and that on her birthday she wants to go back to places she's stayed at and finally where she was found in a dustbin next to a pizza place. The first time I watched it I think I was 11 and I can't remember which bit at, probably the end, but I cried. Definitely worth watching! Rated 4.5/5 Stars •  Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 01/18/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Dustbin Baby

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