Little Children

Little Children: Kate Winslet stars in this small film dealing with young married couples living in everyday “American suburbia”. The story opens up with us finding out that a man who exposes himself to little kids is out of jail and living back at home. This has the whole neighborhood up in arms and worried for their children. What we see is a lot of finger pointing by everyone, but what we learn is that everyone has their own evils inside. Winslet’s character finds out that her husband is addicted to internet pornography. This leads her to seek out something or someone new to satisfy her hunger and not just sit there and deal with the hand that has been dealt to her. Enter Patrick, a father who stays at home with his son while his wife works….you see where this is going. There are another four or so storylines going on in the neighborhood that all come to a head on the same night - (Think American Beauty). The film succeeds in getting its message across, however I thought it took to many “winding roads” to get there. The film is blessed with 2 great performances – one by Kate Winslet and the other by Jackie Earle Hailey who plays the best creep I have seen on the screen in some time. Not sure if my expectations for this movie were too high or if it was the fact that it had some misplaced humorous scenes that hurt the serious message being conveyed. I walked out of the theater wanting something better. As I let this film marinate some more I find myself wanting to discuss some of its ideas. Summed up: A very interesting film, which could have been carried out better.
* * and a ½ or Grade: B-


If this movie had parents they would be: American Beauty & Magnolia

With a running time of 130 minutes
This film is rated R