You won't be disappointed!

Such a frustrating disappointment

Absolutely Fantastic

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

I enjoyed this movie more than I thought I would. This is an evocative tale of life before food banks and the welfare system. Watching the young protagonist pretend he enjoyed eating his "delicious" cut-from-a-magazine food was pretty poignant. The performances put in by the young actors are believable without being too sappy. Jesse Bradford is charming. Also worth seeing is Adrien Brody. He sparkles with a to-the-gut vitality. But in the end it is the kid's grit and determination that holds this movie together. His pride in himself and his dogged pursuit of his creativity, integrity and ingenuity makes this movie worth seeing. A great scene to be on the look out for is when the beautiful gum-snapping elevator girl gives the young Aaron a graduation gift. In addition, I especially enjoyed John McConnell's performance as the mean "Big Butt" cop. I'm pretty sure he was also in the recent Ladykillers with Tom Hanks. He's fun to watch.

What a wonderful film. So evocative of the 1930s.Jesse Bradford was terrific as the main character. I had the opportunity in 2004 while working as an extra on Oceans 12 in Chicago to tell the director of "King of the Hill", Steven Soderbergh, what a great film he made (He said "thank you"). How did he ever find such a beautiful story and get the job to direct the film? An overlooked classic! I was glad to see recently that Jesse Bradford has been making a career as an adult actor now, appearing in several recent films, and he will be one of the lead characters in Clint Eastwoods's upcoming production, "Flags of our Fathers", due out in 2006. Also, with Jesse's training in film studies in college, I predict that he will turn to directing movies as he gets more experience, and what better mentor than Clint Eastwood! Be sure to see "king of the Hill", i believe you will love it.

Not to be confused with that T.V. show thing. King of the Hill is one of the most vivid film experiences I remember as a child. No, I wasn't lucky enough to catch it on the big screen. Instead I rented it and watched it one night and was totally absorbed into it. Jesse Bradford, despite his current film career, did a damn fine job as Aaron Kurlander, a young boy struggling to survive during the Great Depression. He uses his wits and imagination to make the best out of the worst of times. Bradford was 12 or 13 years old at the time he filmed the movie and as an actor it must've been a heavy burden. The main focus is on him as its his story and shown from his point of view. Bradford doesn't let the ball drop once and more than carries his weight. It's another one of those rare great child performances. Jeroen Krabbé plays Aaron's (Bradford) father who is a struggling traveling salesman. Lisa Eichhorn plays his mentally unstable mother who goes in and out of various institutions. Rounding out the cast of the interesting people that fill Aaron's life are Karen Allen as the warm and understanding school teacher, Cameron Boyd his younger brother, Adrien Brody as the "cool" big brother figure, John McConnell as the fat and troublesome patrol cop, Elizabeth McGovern as a prostitute working in the same hotel Aaron lives at, and Spalding Gray as her creepy, manipulative, and suicidal pimp. So yes the film is filled to the brim with worth while supporting players adding so much depth and dimension to Aaron's world.Soderbergh had double duty as writer and director. He scripted the novel by A.E. Hotchner and I think it's his best film. As I mentioned it takes place during the Great Depression in St. Louis Missouri. Watching Aaron fight for survival is one of the best charms of the film. It's done realistically. The audience is able to believe his methods. There's a nice mix of drama, dark somber humor and dire situations, but there's also enough humanity and hope in the movie to send an uplifting message. For those who enjoy Andy Dufresne's message of hope and persaverence in the more widely known The Shawshank Redemption, seek out this film. I would argue it's even superior to Frank Darabont's movie. It's one of the great and underrated modern films and ranks with the best using the Great Depression setting. Sadly King of the Hill isn't released yet on DVD and it's not very likely that you'll be able to find it at your local video store. Especially if all you have is the local communist Blockbuster near you. Anyway, King of the Hill should be regarded and known far more highly than what it is. It's a sin for a movie this great to not get its due. Grade: A+

I first saw this movie a few weeks ago on broadcast television and was only watching it, initially, because I was bored on a Saturday afternoon and there was nothing else better on television. After now having seen it, I'm glad I happened upon the film because without it, I would never have seen the immense talent of Jesse Bradford. I'd only ever seen him in two other films: "Bring It On" and "Swimfan". I think he did a fair job in the latter and a pretty good job in the former, however neither gave me the impression that he was a great actor. After seeing "King of the Hill", I now have a newfound respect for Jesse Bradford. Now as far as the film itself goes, I thought it was a great movie but it was incredibly sad and not one I'd recommend watching when you're in a good mood because it will just bring you down. I was very excited to see a young Adrian Brody in the film and, as was expected, he did a phenomenal job in the film as well. I remember watching the movie and being really angry with the father in this movie for leaving his child to starve to death. It was at that moment that I realized I was watching a truly great example of quality film-making. The movie gets a 9 out of 10 (it loses a point for being a little too melodramatic).