Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this thought-provoking drama from the director of In the Bedroom probably won't be on most kids' radar. Just as well, since it includes some very mature images and ideas, including Internet porn and masturbation, adulterous sex and lies to spouses, child abuse (discussed, not shown), self-mutilation (off-screen, but with visible bloody results), and loud, intense football action. There are repeated references to a child predator who's been released from prison (neighbors campaign against him, TV reports discuss the case, parents go into a frenzy at a public pool when he shows up); he's also the center of a very disturbing scene in which he masturbates while his blind date cries helplessly, sitting next to him in her car. There are also several sweaty sex scenes between an adulterous couple, with nudity (bottoms and breasts), though these tend to be more "romantic" than explicit. Several uses of "f--k," plus other mild profanity.
Families can discuss the relationships between adults and children throughout the movie. Who are the "little children" of the title -- the kids or their parents? How do the adults look after their kids but also leave them vulnerable? How do the adults behave like children themselves? Why do you think Sarah and Brad are so dissatisfied with their lives? When does their relationship cross the line? Is the movie out to humanize Ronnie McGorvey, condemn him, or some of both? Do you think the characters overreact to having him in their midst, or is their fear justified?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Cynthia Fuchs
An intricate puzzle of upper-middle-class suburban dread and desire, LITTLE CHILDREN (based on the novel by Tom Perrotta) follows several intersecting storylines. As the characters try to define themselves, they are also self-deluding, which leads to tragedy.
Todd Field's movie begins as convicted child predator Ronnie McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley) watches a TV report about his release and subsequent return to his mother's home in East Wyndham, Massachusetts. He looks trapped, and the camera hovers behind his head, making him a silhouette stuck between the viewer's gaze and the glare of the TV screen.
With the help of a dispassionate third-person narrator (Will Lyman of PBS' Frontline), Little Children weaves Ronnie's story with several others, all having to do with parents and children -- and parents who behave like children. Ronnie himself is fortunate to have a mother, May (Phyllis Somerville), who takes her responsibility for him seriously. Still, she's unable to help him with his "psychosexual disorder," suggesting only that he find a legitimate girlfriend in the personals (he sighs, "I don't want a girlfriend my age, Mommy, I wish I did").
One of the campaigners against Ronnie is a former cop named Larry (Noah Emmerich), who puts up flyers and sprays hateful graffiti on May's home. He enlists the support of neighborhood acquaintance Brad (Patrick Wilson). A former high school football star who's now a stay-at-home dad studying for his third try at the bar exam, Brad is married to self-sufficient documentary filmmaker Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), who brings their young son Aaron (Ty Simpkins) into bed with them at night so she can admire his perfection as he sleeps.
During the day, Brad takes Aaron to the park to play with the other little children. Here he meets Sarah (Kate Winslet, in an excellent performance), who feels similarly frustrated, sad, and abandoned by her spouse, Richard (Gregg Edelman), who spends much of his time visiting an Internet porn site.
Brad and Sarah's relationship begins as a friendship but quickly becomes a steamy affair that makes both of them feel like they're inching toward a fantasy -- a romantic vision of themselves as desired and desirable. They spend their summer afternoons at the public pool, with their children (like most) entering into a friendship ordained by their parents' convenience.
During one such afternoon, Brad and Sarah's stories intersect briefly with Ronnie's. He arrives at the pool, dons his flippers and snorkel, then slips into the water, his fishbelly-white form both scrawny and scary. Parents scream and flail their arms, beckoning their children, who scramble from the water like the kids in Jaws. The cops arrive to remove Ronnie from the premises. And so the children are protected.
Repeatedly, the lines separating adults and children are poorly defined. Adults are irresponsible, remaining children even as they take care of their kids. Parents pursue juvenile desires, trampling others to do so, while citing the "protection" of children as the ultimate and unassailable rationale. If Little Children is pedantic and sometimes smug in its judgments, it is also painful.
Fans might also want to see In the Bedroom, as well as similarly themed (and equally mature) movies like American Beauty or The Virgin Suicides.
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentAdulterous affair includes sexual activity and some nudity (including bottoms and breasts); intercourse on a washing machine, on the floor, in a bed; a character visits an Internet porn site and masturbates with a pair of panties on his face. |
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ViolenceA few football scenes are hard-hitting (sound and images); a man mutilates himself off-screen (with very bloody on-screen results); an elderly woman suffers heart failure during an argument; a fall off of a skateboard jump leaves a man in a neck brace; discussion of a past shooting. |
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LanguageSeveral uses of "f--k," plus other profanity. |
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Social BehaviorCharacters lie and commit adultery; a central storyline involves a convicted pedophile recently released from prison and harassed by neighbors (including graffiti on sidewalk and house); consequently, there's much discussion of pedophilia and the violent neighborhood tactics to punish him; adults tend to treat their children as accessories while behaving like children themselves. |
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CommercialismLabels and brands glimpsed and/or mentioned include Porsche, FedEx, Goldfish crackers, Vanity Fair magazine, and Dunkin' Donuts. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoCigarette smoking and some social drinking; one character discusses her "mostly psychotropic" medications. |
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