Little Children (2006)

4 STARS


Directed by Todd Field
Produced by Albert Berger, Todd Field, Ron Yerxa
Written by Todd Field, Tom Perrotta (based on the novel by Tom Perrotta)

Starring Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley

Runtime 2 hours, 10 min.
Worldwide Gross $14,821,658
Genres Drama, Romance

In 2004, Tom Perrotta, writer of the acclaimed 1998 novel Election, releases Little Children, which is subsequently listed on numerous Top Ten lists. Only two years later, Little Children is released for the silver screen. How is a film made in such a short amount of time? Little Children is a very good film. The fact that it was realized, adapted, cast, shot, edited and released in under two years only adds to the film's brilliance.

It's hard to describe the plot of Little Children. It's mainly about two people, Sarah Pierce (Winslet) and Brad Adamson (Wilson) who embark in an extramarital affair. Then there's ex-cop Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich), who is pissed off about a convicted sex offender living in his neighborhood. The sex offender, Ronald McGorvey (Haley) is having trouble battling his immoral urges while his mother (Phyllis Somerville) is wanting to help him get on with his life. Meanwhile, Sarah's relationship with her husband is falling apart and gossip about her is circulating the neighborhood. On Brad's end, he's having trouble with his wife (Jennifer Connelly), who's pressuring him to pass the bar exam and get a job as a lawyer. Needless to say, a lot is going on.

The strongest element of Little Children is its cast. While Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson are both decent in their portrayals, its the film's supporting cast that is really notable. Amazing performances come from both Jackie Earle Haley and Phyllis Somerville. Another great performance comes from Tony Award-winner Jane Adams, who plays Sheila, Ronald's date in the dinner scene. Though her performance is less than five minutes in length, it's flawless. Truthfully, its hard to find someone in this film who does a bad job acting. This is the most compelling reason to see the film. It's hard to think of a film that matches Little Children in its quality of acting.

Something else notable is the film's screenplay. With all of its subplots, the script is still coherent enough to be easy enough to understand. It's not a confusing film, which is a great achievement considering the story's complexities. Something that might throw people off is the film's alarmingly slow pace. Though there's many eye grabbing moments, the film is altogether slow. But like my review of The Queen, I don't see this as a bad thing. I don't mind, but others might.

I also really like the score, composed by Thomas Newman. But something that really makes Little Children original is its narration, which is fun and creatively done. However, the best quality of this film is its ending. It's perfect. It almost effortlessly resolves all of the story's conflicts and answers all questions quickly and effectively. But most of all, it's shocking. That's right, shocking. I actually gasped. Be prepared. It's perhaps one of the greatest endings to a film I've ever seen.

The one thing holding the film back for me is its length. When looking back, some scenes seem a bit unneeded. This makes it seems like the film is just rambling on, when this really isn't the case. The film could have been much more fluent if some things were taken out. But that's just my opinion.

Little Children is very well done. Something that astounds me is how underrated it is. It bombed at the box office, taking in $12 million less than it's production budget. It was also shunned at the Academy Awards, earning only three nominations and no Best Picture nod. But it's alright. Little Children is revealing, frightening, controversial, brilliantly acted and in a way, even beautiful. And that's good enough for me.

Little Children is rated R for strong sexuality and nudity, language and some disturbing content.