In The 80s, Soleil Moon Frye became a household name starring in a sitcom called, “Punky Brewster.” For those who never seen the show including me, it’s about an abandoned girl who comes across a kind man, he adopts her and begins a new life. As in most sitcoms, hilarity ensues. Punky Brewster aired on NBC in 1984-1988. A short lived animated spin-off titled, “It’s Punky Brewster” aired on NBC in 1985-1986.
Kid 90 is currently streaming on Hulu. It received critical acclaim from critics. Although I have never seen Punky Brewster, my parents who grew up in The 80s they recommended Kid 90 to me, because my favorite actor Leonardo DiCaprio served as an executive producer. I accepted the request and streamed it on Hulu.
Is Kid 90 labeled “The Goodfellas Of Documentaries?” Let’s see if it is groundbreaking. Keep in mind, this is a short review, due to the fact it is not a scripted movie listing material on certain pros and cons.
Positive & Negative Elements
Positive: Soleil Moon Frye is interviewed talking about her childhood, teenage years and becoming a young adult carrying camera everywhere she went during The 90s. The decade I was born. Soleil pioneered an individual recording a video of yourself before iPhones, social media like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube & Instagram existed. She also directed all the videos.
Notable celebrities/Soleil’s good friends such as David Arquette, Brian Austin Green, (Megan Fox’s ex-husband) & Danny Boy (House Of Payne) are also interviewed talking about their friendship with Soleil.
Leonardo DiCaprio & Sean Penn both serve as executive producers. The former is also a childhood friend of Soleil during his early career as a child actor in “Growing Pains.” As you may know, Leo’s production company is “Appian Way Productions.”
More celebrities including Corey Feldman, Charlie Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, Sara Gilbert, Michael Rapaport & the late Jonathan Brandis are seen in Soleil’s recordings.
Soleil’s personal life is shown. It’s an emotional journey for her maturing into a young woman exploring the ups and downs of what it’s like to be a child star. She also had surgery during her teenage years, due to public humiliation. All I can say is, “And I thought Dolly Parton has huge assets.”
Linda Perry (Sara Gilbert’s ex-wife) served as a composer.
Speaking of child stars, being a kid in show biz explores the dangers of drugs, alcohol and sex. Soleil managed to dodge a bullet without ending up like Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Bynes.
The documentary dedicates the memories of Soleil’s late friends including Jonathan Brandis.
Soleil has a diary with photos.
Negative: Running Time is spans an hour and eleven minutes. I think the documentary could’ve been longer if Soleil released additional material.
The Final Verdict: A-
From my point of view, Kid 90 is a very good documentary. I don’t mean to contradict myself, but I think Kid 90 isn’t “The Goodfellas Of Documentaries.” I would’ve given it my highest grade an A, FOR APEX. An A- is close enough. So far, my favorite documentary of all time is “Super Size Me.” If you grew up watching Punky Brewster, Kid 90 is worth your spare time. If you wanna watch Punky Brewster and its revival, you can stream them on Peacock. Despite not being a huge fan of Soleil Moon Frye, I actually enjoyed her life story as a normal person not some spoiled brat like Kylie Jenner.
Nickthemoviecritic.com 