In August 2006 I recommended 'Little Miss Sunshine' an adult comedy with an elementary name. Today you are encouraged to experience 'Little Children', a film making reference to the young but its cinema - as adult as they come.
The film is set in suburban Massachusetts, where young parents spend time with their lone offspring in parks or at the neighborhood pool. You have a stay-at-home father, (Patrick Wilson) caring for his young son while grappling with a domineering wife. You have a mother (Kate Winslet*) married to a guy so far removed that he disappears for much of the film. You then have a former cop forced into retirement after a terrible accident. Finally you get (Jackie Earle Haley) a recently released sex offender living in a community where his face is posted on every light pole and billboard in town.
Just like in many stories about suburbia you get gossip, unhappy relationships, desperate housewives, house-husband and the not-so-welcoming book club.
The real meat in this film is Haley who lives with his loving, aging mother while struggling to survive his demons coupled with a hostile community. He brings great depth and insight to the role of a convicted sex offender. Haley's Oscar nominated Best-Supporting role will astonish you as in one moment he is quite charming on a date yet in another moment you are horrified by him. Later, you stand with him in his difficult struggle. He is real, humane, complex and pained. The film provides an interesting look at his situation with not once condoning his past behavior.
Little Children confronts a sensitive topic for many adults. But if you withhold judgment and let the film unfold you will no doubt have a broader viewpoint of this subject.
The film is set in suburban Massachusetts, where young parents spend time with their lone offspring in parks or at the neighborhood pool. You have a stay-at-home father, (Patrick Wilson) caring for his young son while grappling with a domineering wife. You have a mother (Kate Winslet*) married to a guy so far removed that he disappears for much of the film. You then have a former cop forced into retirement after a terrible accident. Finally you get (Jackie Earle Haley) a recently released sex offender living in a community where his face is posted on every light pole and billboard in town.
Just like in many stories about suburbia you get gossip, unhappy relationships, desperate housewives, house-husband and the not-so-welcoming book club.
The real meat in this film is Haley who lives with his loving, aging mother while struggling to survive his demons coupled with a hostile community. He brings great depth and insight to the role of a convicted sex offender. Haley's Oscar nominated Best-Supporting role will astonish you as in one moment he is quite charming on a date yet in another moment you are horrified by him. Later, you stand with him in his difficult struggle. He is real, humane, complex and pained. The film provides an interesting look at his situation with not once condoning his past behavior.
Little Children confronts a sensitive topic for many adults. But if you withhold judgment and let the film unfold you will no doubt have a broader viewpoint of this subject.