Showbiz Kids – An Intimate and Empathetic Documentary (Early Review)

Being a kid isn’t always easy. Once the complicated world of show business is thrown into the equation, it is almost impossible. Despite this, as long as there has been a show business, kids have played a role in it. While that role has certainly evolved due to our ever-changing society over the past century, the challenges the industry presents have also evolved accordingly. Though there are many things we know about child stars and child acting, there is definitely much more we don’t. Showbiz Kids is the latest documentary that looks to fill those gaps, offering an intimate and empathetic look into the world of child stars and child acting. Through a series of interviews and archival footage, the film tracks the humble beginnings of some of the most well-known child actors (and some we may have known to have started off as child actors) as they recount their experiences and how they reconcile that with where they are today. Suffice it to say that the film isn’t always an easy watch.

Meanwhile, who better than to handle this subject matter than a child star? Winter handles the film with care, arguably treating his subjects with the dignity he may not have been afforded himself. It is common knowledge that child stars don’t quite grow up the same way that normal kids do but Showbiz Kids shows the extent of why that is the case. With young age, kids interpret things differently because of their different understanding of the world. They don’t know themselves or even what they want or need just yet and this fact has consistently been taken advantage of by anyone or anything with financial stakes in their success (which was not always easy to hear). And this simply kept happening (and continues to keep happening) since these impressionable kids didn’t know any better.

Watching such former child stars as Evan Rachel Wood, Milla Jovovich, Henry Thomas, Wil Wheaton, and the late Cameron Boyce (his recent passing made his words sound even more sad) among others candidly talk about their time growing up in the industry now as adults was enlightening for better or worse. Their lives were not nearly as glamorous as they may have seemed on the surface. While there were good times, they mostly came from a place of immense unease and discomfort. These kids may not have understood the significance of what they were doing but over time, they learned that they often came hand in hand and it was the price to pay (with some paying the ultimate price). The concept of fame was something hard to understand as it continued to blur the line between their public and private lives. Though their fame acted as a shelter, it also prevented them from learning the kind of social skills needed to survive in the real world. Unfortunately for them, their perception of the real world was limited, hindering them later in life as it left them unprepared once many of their careers abruptly ended as a result of getting older.

Nevertheless, may child actors persisted and their careers continued to blossom. Meanwhile, they would take the lessons they learned into their adult lives. If they knew then what they knew now, they would clearly do things differently. This perspective was certainly invaluable to watch. As it featured actors talk about their experience in the industry both past and present, it also followed a few young actors attempting to break into the industry. Unlike many of the other subjects in the film, they were more or less aware of what they were getting into. This was an interesting contrast. However, the biggest problem with Showbiz Kids was how long it took to get going. While the best documentaries tell stories about their subject matter, this one felt messy early on before finally finding its footing and becoming more effective.

In the end, with a running time clocking in at around the 90 minute mark, Showbiz Kids is a quick watch and an uneasy watch but is still an important one that film fans should see.

still courtesy of HBO

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.