Dustbin Baby (2008)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Nicki M

  
  Decent TV movie. Wasn't one I set out to watch, but flicked over the channel five minutes in and Dakota Blue Richards's portrayal of bratty April made me interested enough to see it through. I did not realise until I read some other reviews that it was written by… More
  Decent TV movie. Wasn't one I set out to watch, but flicked over the channel five minutes in and Dakota Blue Richards's portrayal of bratty April made me interested enough to see it through. I did not realise until I read some other reviews that it was written by Jacqueline Wilson - I used to love her books when I was a teen (would not know about her more recent ones - this is 80's era such as "Waiting for the sky to fall" and "The power of the Shade"). For some reason I kind of thought that it was a true story, and from the write up in the tv mag, that it would be an American "lifeline" type story. I was quite surprised to see it was British! The story is pretty so-so, about a teen girl who was abandoned in a dustbin when she was a baby (hence the title), and the foster homes she went to and her hard life. It ends in her coming to terms with what happened and finding her peace with it. Dakota definitely has a future as an actress - she really carries this movie. Even when you can't especially like her behaviour, she has a compelling presence that keeps you watching. Worth a watch.

• Daisy M

  
  The film follows the story of young teen April whose troubled life began in a dustbin - a new born baby, abandoned and alone, not celebrated, not wanted but discarded and left like so much rubbish in an industrial bin behind a pizza parlour. On the morning of her fourteenth birthday… More
  The film follows the story of young teen April whose troubled life began in a dustbin - a new born baby, abandoned and alone, not celebrated, not wanted but discarded and left like so much rubbish in an industrial bin behind a pizza parlour. On the morning of her fourteenth birthday April has a devastating row with her foster mother, Marion and leaves the house determined to find out where she really comes from, who she really is and maybe, just maybe, find her real mother. Telling no-one what she's up to or where she's going, April skips school and begins the search she's dreamed about all her life. It's a blur of social workers, children homes and special schools as April revisits and recalls the key scenes of her fragmented past. It's a painful journey, sometimes frightening but there's also friendship and love and laughter. And now she's started, there's no going back - April must find her mother. <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view&current=dustbin-baby-300x1981.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/dustbin-baby-300x1981.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a> I thoroughly enjoyed this excellent adaptation. that was directed by Juliet May, and who clearly portrait the subject. The characters were superb; a wonderfully natural relationship between Marion and Elliot; Marion and April. And perfectly performances from all 3 Aprils. The film itself was excellent British drama. The lead character played by Dakota Blue Richards is portrayed very well, complete with teenage acne. One error I remarked, the young April was shown writing left handed when doing her drawings while the 14 year old is shown as right handed. ooops.... Great Drama. 3 1/2 stars <a href="http://s420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/?action=view&current=Dustbin_Baby_1209627c1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i420.photobucket.com/albums/pp286/ladypink_2009/Dustbin_Baby_1209627c1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>