Review of Little Children (2006) by Luke G — 20 Nov 2012

An absurd exercise to plumb the apparent mediocrity of suburbia. The effort would be applaudable if not for select vulgarities to be strewn into the narrative? For what? Shock Value? A validation of a heightened cynicism? Nope! In the eyes of this curmudgeon, these scenes only add an unintentional sense of humor.

Slow motion (complete with ridiculous voices) sport scene? Sure! Ha. Ha. Ha. Absurd car scene complete with tin foil bird? Equally a ha-ha-ha moment. This "humor" only sets to fragment an otherwise melancholy tale.

However, the whole affair seems overly artificial, with characters, as one reviewer (A.S. Hamrah) noted, lamenting over "nothing." Whereas the desires of each character could be of note and worth mentioning, the intentions seem contrived for the purpose of spurring this plot forward.

Case-in-point, Winslet's Pierce and Wilson's Adamson concocting a hair-brained plot to simply vanish. Again, the emotional inconveniences could be understood, but I am not convinced that alone would force both to discard their comfortable, suburban lives.

Haley's performance, while at times bordering on ridiculous, is of note, with a mention going to Somerville's McGorvey. Keep in mind that I have yet to read the book, so take that detail into consideration.