Review of Little Children (2006) by Nathaniel H — 22 Nov 2009

Aw, kids say the darndest things, don't they?. Except in Todd Field's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel, the children are spoiled suburban adults with the apparent inability to not act on their impulses. LiIttle Children is a movie with moments of undeniable power, a supremely creepy vibe, and (mostly) superior acting, but so what? There's no love in Todd Field's direction, just a desire to make every character say and do the nastiest and most careless things. Suffering from a thuddingly obvious and bizarre narration track, it manages to be both scathingly, cruelly sensationalistic and also a moralizing mess. Field doesn't connect any of the story strands in a satisfying way: scene transitions feel labored and it never develops a unifying emotional tone beyond icky fascination. This isn't a probing inquiry into modern American guilt, it's exhibitionism plain and simple.

Interestingly, Field, an actor before he began directing, made one of the greatest directorial debuts of all time a mere five years earlier with In The Bedroom. If you proclaim this a masterpiece before-or after-seeing that movie, you deserve to have your cinema geek card revoked, pal.