by John P. Meyer

"We can use them to kip under. That's the way the winos do it."

Kisses is one of those films whose view of humanity you hope is entirely fictional, while you simultaneously fear that it's based on genuine (and all-too common) behavior.

Writer/director Lance Daly gives us a dark-side view of low-rent urban Ireland as seen through the eyes of two involuntarily precocious youngsters whose families live next door to each other in project housing. Dylan (Shane Curry) hides out from his Da (Paul Roe) out of long habit, knowing that -- when drunk -- the old man's liable to strike out at either him or his Mom (Neilí Conroy) -- or both. Unfortunately, there are only so many places to hide in the apartment, and Da knows 'em all.

Neighbor girl Kylie (Kelly O'Neill), meanwhile, finds it prudent to make herself scarce during the visits of her Uncle Maurice (Sean McDonagh) -- who's abusive in an entirely different fashion. He brings her presents. And etc....

When Kylie arranges for Dylan to escape from one of his Da's more violent episodes by means of a none-too-carefully placed ladder, both kids decide to run away, hopefully for good, and thus this peculiar and endearing little picaresque hits the streets (and byways, and back alleys, and fleabag dives) of downtown Dublin.

They begin their journey by hopping aboard a salvage scow on an inland waterway. Amazingly, the vessel's "captain" (David Bendito) proves to be a friendly and accommodating fellow, who allows the kids to ride along as he wends his leisurely way toward city's center. Might be he's glad for the company; could be he ran away from home at an early age himself, and sympathizes with his young passengers.

One good thing about Kylie's uncle: he gifts her in cash money, which she and Dylan immediately put to good use by going on a spending spree at a Dublin shopping mall. They buy themselves haircuts and hoodies and wheelie sneakers for Christmas, it being that time of year. Having no experience in frugality (and not much experience having money to begin with), they rapidly deplete their Euro reserves and resort to assisting a panhandling street musician for a cut of the take.

When Dylan's quest to find his older brother -- who flew the family coop a couple of years back -- proves fruitless, he and Kylie are forced to "sleep rough" under newspapers, in what they at first take to be a deserted alley. But they are not alone, and soon they fear they've come face-to-face with a legendary killer called the Sack Man.

There's a clever stylistic device employed by filmmaker Daly involving transitional use of black & white. There's also a whimsical encounter with a chap outside the back door of a local nightclub who purports to be Dylan's namesake -- and I refer not to the Welsh poet.

Without glowing performances from the two youthful leads, this film would be nothing special. With them, it's everything an offbeat indie picture aspires to be: engaging, entertaining, and eye-opening. Given its rough language and children-in-peril subject matter, you won't want to take your kids to see Kisses -- but you might wish they could learn a few lessons from Dylan and Kylie.