Little Children
2006, USA
Starring: Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Gregg Edelman
Directed by: Todd Field
Written by: Todd Field, Tom Perrotta (also novel)
Produced by: Albert Berger, Todd Field, Ron Yerxa
Genres: Drama
Release Date: November 3, 2006
MPAA Rating: Rated R for strong sexuality and nudity, language and some disturbing content.
Distributor: New Line Cinema
Peanut butter goes well with chocolate. Or so I'm told. I try not to eat anything but beef jerky and bone dust, to keep my mind sharp and my blood pure, but those who like sugar have informed me that, apparently, it’s a good mix. So is sweet and sour, and if you're 18 years old and looking to drive your father's car into a bridge abutment, so does Red Bull and vodka. Child molestation, on the other hand, generally does not mix well with whimsy. Or so I would have thought, before seeing
Little Children. The film is not a comedy, per se, but like
Desperate Housewives, it does treat serious subject matter with a tone that, while not exactly light-heated, is certainly not somber.
In fact, the film has a lot in common with
Desperate Housewives, every woman's favorite show and every boyfriend's guilty pleasure. They both take place in suburbia, they both have strangely comic narration, and they both deal with a dark underbelly that’s portrayed not as seamy, but rather as human. And that's the strength of
Little Children; its humanity. The film doesn't judge its subjects, and in fact its tone verges on condoning their quirks, foibles, and flaws, as well as their colossal mistakes. And mistakes, the characters do make. Kate Winslet plays a mother with a an adulteress, and our hero. Another storyline features a convicted pedophile whose release into the community sparks outrage in the neighborhood. Played by Jackie Earl Haley, the character evokes just the right mix of disgust and pathos in the viewer, a balance that, with the exception of Kevin Bacon in
The Woodsman and Paris Hilton in life, is very rarely successfully maintained. The key to this film is that there are no villains, only flawed characters, and that makes for more realistic subject matter that’s more relevant than most films.
Which is not to say that
Little Children is a realist film. It's a simple story, really, about love and forgiveness, and all the stuff that make Hollywood films broadly popular, but along with the script, there are some nice formal touches that elevate it. The voice-over narration, also reminiscent of
American Beauty, has a strange, unearthly feel to it. The omniscience of the voice-over, coupled with a narrator sounding not unlike Wilfred Brimley with a snootful, make it seem like someone's grandfather reading a fairy tale out loud. I wouldn't exactly call this a bedtime story for adults, but the narration does have a certain otherworldly atmosphere that contrasts nicely with the sometimes-dark events of the story. Director/co-writer Todd Field, who made
In The Bedroom before gaining superstardom as Ol' Drippy on
Aqua Teen Hunger Force, doesn't break any new ground with this film, as the comparisons to
Desperate Housewives and
American Beauty would suggest. But still,
Little Children is a refreshing change that reminds us that films don't have to be straightforward to be simple, and don't have to be somber to be serious.
Rating: 9 on 10
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