Review of Little Children (2006) by Greek-God — 05 Jan 2018

Little Children is a dramatic film that is based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta. It stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Jackie Earle Haley, Noah Emmerich, Gregg Edelman, Phyllis Somerville and Will Lyman.

Todd Field,who co-wrote the screenplay with the novelist Perrotta,directs this film. The film involves the lives of two spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer.

Sarah Pierce (Winslet) is a reluctant housewife and mother in an upper-middle class suburb of Boston. She is married to Richard Pierce(Edelman),a successful yet distant husband, who is secretly obsessed with an internet porn star.

While Brad Adamson (Wilson) is a former college football player who's married to Kathy (Connelly),a filmmaker, with a young son named Aaron. He is depressed and frustrated, as his wife is the breadwinner and he is a stay-at-home father.

Each day he leaves home with the pretense of going to the library to study, but spends the time watching skateboarders at the nearby park. He joins a policeman's touch football team at the urging of a friend, Larry Hedges(Emmerich), a disgraced former police officer.

Sarah and Brad meet on the school playground. Over the course of several visits to the local pool, both soon begin an affair. Finally,Ronnie James McGorvey (Haley), who has served a prison sentence for indecent exposure to a minor, has moved back into the neighborhood to live with his mother.

Hedges launches a harassment campaign against Ronnie, handing out posters, vandalizing his house, harassing and almost assaulting the man and his mother. Over the course of the film,it explores the characters' struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations to their weaknesses.

This is one of the best films during the year of its release.The stories that are presented in this film are thought-provoking as it genuinely explores people's emotions,relationships and their insecurities in life.

The themes tackled will definitely go through the sensitivity and emotions of the viewer. The acting was definitely superior in this film. After an absence of 13 years in the film industry, come backing actor, Jackie Earle Haley shines in this film together with Kate Winslet.

Both deserved their Oscar nominations for this film. Finally, the screenplay and the direction of the film deserves a lot of praise as well.In summary,it is one of the best films that truly wonders about the mystery of human emotions.