Molly Ringwald's road to nowhere

P.K. AND THE KID (1987 - filmed in 1982)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

(originally written in 2002) 

Molly Ringwald had that special something that Shirley Temple had: she could make teenage boys develop a crush on her. From Ringwald's lead roles in "Sixteen Candles" and "Pretty in Pink," she became the face of teenage adoration in the John Hughes universe. I was one of those teenage boys back in 1986, even ogling at Life and Time magazines that featured her pretty freckled face gracing the cover. Ringwald then moved on from her teenage mode to mindless B movies that never did much for her career. But Ringwald was also the star of "B" and "C" movies prior to "Sixteen Candles." One of them was the exceptionally abysmal "P.K. and the Kid," a movie that makes TV movies look visually inventive by comparison.

P.K is played by Molly Ringwald, a teenage girl who faces one sexual assault after another from her mean stepfather (Alex Rocco). He beats her senseless but P.K.'s mom (Fionnula Flanagan) ignores the abuse. P.K. is so fed up she runs away, and stepdaddy is now after her. She flees inside someone's truck. Lo and behold, the driver is Kid Kane (Paul Le Mat), a professional wrestler who is on his way to Reno for a big match. He is willing to help P.K. though the reasons are not clear except that somebody should look after a teenage runaway. They drive off on the road, laughing, making jokes, etc. Most of this resembles a cheaply made TV movie. Stepdad often materializes out of nowhere and always finds P.K. P.K. and Kid manage to elude him further. There is not one shot that shows Stepdaddy is on to them, so how does he know their whereabouts from one state to the next if we never see him following them? There are wrestling matches and fistfights along the way in restaurants, bars, and fish markets. P.K. stays in the motel room while Kid Kane tries to woo a hotel clerk (or a waitress, I forget). This stupidity plays on and on, and it includes an unintentionally hilarious scene where Stepdad delivers a jab at poor Esther Rolle, a friend of Kid's!

Along with "Caligula," "P.K. and the Kid" is the only film I've ever stopped halfway through while watching it. It was a recent videotape I had bought cheaply and viewed, mostly because of my interest in good old Molly. I decided to fast-forward to the conventional, excruciating climax where Kid has his wrestling match. It is all about as exciting as waiting for a tree branch to fall on your head while reading a book (even Stallone's sweaty artificiality was more exciting in "Over the Top"). In fact, there are some good Ringwald movies, and some great Paul Le Mat films. For God's sakes, go to your local video store and rent them, but do not watch this time-waster or you'll be sorry you lost $1.50!