The success Fields has with this film comes through the uncomfortable intersection between comedy, melodrama and tragedy. Oh, and romance.
Little Children (2006)
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Reviews Counted:152
Fresh:121
Rotten:31
Average Rating:7.4/10
Consensus: Little Children takes a penetrating look at suburbia and its flawed individuals with an unflinching yet humane eye.
Rated: 15 [See Full Rating] for strong sexuality and nudity, language and some disturbing content.
Runtime: 2 hrs 17 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:03-11-2006
Synopsis: Actor-turned-director Todd Field follows up his Oscar-nominated drama, IN THE BEDROOM, with this ambitious adaptation of Tom Perrotta's celebrated novel. Set in the imploding minefields of modern... Actor-turned-director Todd Field follows up his Oscar-nominated drama, IN THE BEDROOM, with this ambitious adaptation of Tom Perrotta's celebrated novel. Set in the imploding minefields of modern suburbia, LITTLE CHILDREN follows several inhabitants of a small American town as they fumble their way through adulthood. Numb-to-life housewife and mother Sarah Pierce (Kate Winslet) finds an outlet for her yearning in gorgeous househusband Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson), who is crippled with insecurity over the fact that his perfect wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), is the family breadwinner. When Sarah and Brad meet at the local playground one afternoon, a passionate affair is sparked. In a further attempt to reclaim his youthful fire, Brad joins a night football league with Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich), a former cop who has begun to harass a convicted sex offender, Ronnie J. McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley). These troubled lives eventually collide, causing each individual to take full responsibility for their not-so-responsible actions. Adapted for the screen by Field and Perrotta and artfully photographed by Antonio Calvache, LITTLE CHILDREN is a bitingly funny, and nakedly honest, critique of middle class dysfunction. Though the cast is universally superb, it is former child actor Haley (THE BAD NEWS BEARS, BREAKING AWAY) who steals the show. After only two features, Field proves that he is a truly gifted storyteller. This film was included in the 44th New York Film Festival organized by the Film Society of Lincoln Center. [More]
Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Gregg Edelman, Sadie Goldstein
Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Gregg Edelman, Sadie Goldstein, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley, Jane Adams, Phyllis Somerville, Sarah Buxton
Director: Todd Field
Director: Todd Field
Producer: Albert Berger
Composer: Thomas Newman
Studio: New Line Cinema
Reviews for Little Children
Little Children is neither a sitcom nor a melodrama. Instead, it feels like real life, inhabited by real people with real problems. If this story actually happened, this is exactly how it would go down.
An honest look at infidelity and its ramifications. Clearly one of the best of the year with multiple Oscar-caliber performances, especially by the brilliant Kate Winslet.
An honest film with believable characters that does not depend on arbitrary or unlikely plot developments to achieve dramatic tension.
One of the very best movies of the year, Little Children is a gripping romantic tragedy.
Sexual deviates become heroes. This film is excrement on celluloid.
Atmospheric in moodiness and sporting an underlying chilliness, Little Children resonates with a convincing sense of pathos in desperation and bewilderment.
Little Children refers not only to the kids that the parents worry about but also to the adults who often behave immaturely.
Little Children is something of a head-scratcher. A time-released head-scratcher. And that's a good thing.
The result is a film that skirts cruelty and easy satire for deep, troubling realities -- a nearly thorough triumph, in short.
Little Children slowly loses its grip, becoming just another story about infidelity, albeit an exceptionally polished, well-acted one.
... it's as absorbing as a train wreck, and its brand of heavy drama is so rare in movies these days that everything about it seems amazingly fresh.
Hypnotic in its appeal, devastating in its approach, ruefully acted and bravely narrated. One of the year's best.
Besides Winslet, the actor most deserving of Oscar recognition is Jackie Earle Haley as the despised Ronald James McGorvey.
The unrestrained (and rather excellent) trailer for Todd Field's Little Children would have us believe that the Whore of Babylon (possibly Kate Winslet) is coming for us on NJ Transit, with Pandora's Box in hand.
Field skillfully weaves wry humor, absorbing drama, and nerve-wracking suspense in a style that reflects the influence of Stanley Kubrick.
That the narration and Field's God's-eye camera draw attention to the film's form doesn't detract from its function: to give us that 'second' in the mirror...
Kate Winslet is damn hot. That, and just about the best actress in film today.
Latest News for Little Children
July 23, 2007:
Jackie Earle Haley, More Confirmed for Watchmen Cast
Expect to see a whole lot of "Watchmen" updates over the next several months. And here's one: Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, and Malin Akerman have signed deals to appear in... More...
June 18, 2007:
Patrick Wilson (Pretty Much) Confirmed for "Watchmen"
He did great work in both "Hard Candy" and "Little Children," so now it might be time for Patrick Wilson's shot at the comic book material. More...
January 30, 2007:
SAG Award Winners Revealed, Oscar Predicting Hits Full Steam
Known as a big predictor of what'll go down Oscar night, the Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony took place last Sunday to a rapturous Hollywood crowd without a hitch (or... More...
January 23, 2007:
Oscar Nominations Announced: "Little Miss Sunshine," "Dreamgirls," "Borat" Deemed Worthy
The expected heavy hitters made the grade -- Scorsese, Whitaker, "Dreamgirls" -- but there were a handful of surprises...let's just say, if you thought you'd never... More...
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