Review of Little Children (2006) by Ben F — 20 Mar 2011

"Little Children" is fantastically coordinated and composed, through it's interesting approach, and wonderful cinematography. Field's directing is superb, and the movie does a great job of keeping the audience enthralled by both the film's beauty, and it's disturbing content.

On paper, the film might seem to have a basic plot, but it's so intricately created and formed, that's its without a doubt commendable. Kate Winslet plays a wife who is simply not happy. She's got a daughter, and she doesn't know what to do. She meets another man at the local park, and they form a inappropriate relationship. Both characters have to have a mutual realization about what their doing, and what they really want in life. Simultaneously, a sex offender has moved into the neighborhood, and he has to deal with the constant paranoia and fear of his neighbors, as well as his own psychological troubles. Extremely interesting plot, great execution.

The acting was top-notch in this picture. Kate Winslet was absolutely fantastic. She usually does a great job, and I thought that she was particularly good in this movie. She did a good job of bringing out the emotions of her character and conveying it to the audience. Patrick Wilson was pretty good as well. He wasn't amazing, but he got the job done. Jackie Earle Haley and Noah Emmerich were also superb. They both gave powerful performances, both complex and disturbing. Jennifer Connelly was just there, but she fits a purpose in specific sequences. For the most part, everything was great on this end.

I personally loved how the movie was edited. I felt that the narrations at first were very satirical and humorous, but over time, I began to feel extremely involved in what was going on. When a character's feelings are being described through the narrations, it's brilliant. There are a lot of little subtleties in the editing that I loved, but I don't wanna explain it. You just have to see it.

"Little Children" is great, because of how original it is. It has it's own style and feel, and this mixed with the wonderful acting, editing, and soundtrack, provide this gritty, beautiful, funny, and sad presentation to the viewer that will not be forgotten. See this movie.