Little Children - March 10/12/13
MA 15+ (Strong sex scenes, Strong themes)
Little Children follows the family life of young, unfulfilled suburbanites. Sarah (Kate Winslet) is in a loveless marriage, struggling to fill and find meaning in her days - she wants more. Brad (Patrick Wilson) is a house-husband, married to a documentary filmmaker. Ronnie is just out of prison - two years for indecent exposure - living with his mother. Larry is a retired cop, fixated on driving Ronnie out of the community. The central characters’ relatively mundane and protected lives intersect on the playgrounds, town pools and streets of their small community. When a brief encounter at a neighbourhood park leads them down a fateful path, their lives, and the lives of their children, take a surprising and potentially perilous turn.
The main sub-plot deals with a singularly unpleasant sex offender, brilliantly played by Jackie Earle Haley, who is given no chance of redemption by the town’s righteous upholders of law and order.
This is a film that stays with you long after you leave it. While we all have our own problems this film makes you think about the problems of others.
Origin: USA 2006
Director/s: Todd Field
Cast: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley
Running Time: 136 minutes
Source/s: IMDB, Margaret Pomeranz, www.newline.com
Compiled by: William H. Doudle