WATCH NOW
Little Children takes the audience through the suburbs of America filled with violence, desire, and forgiveness in Field’s second film directed by Todd Field. The film is slated to release with Tár, which Field says has not yet premiered. The story is narrated from the eyes of Sarah (played by Kate Winslet) who is dealing with the shock of her husband, Richard (played by Gregg Edelman) being a compulsive porn addict. While going for a stroll to the park with her daughter, Sarah is introduced to Brad (portrayed by Patrick Wilson). His magnetic personality coupled with his height gives him the fame of the ‘Prom King’ around his wife’s social circle. Brad is as unhappily married as Sarah, and has channeled his frustration towards a local sports team. Their overwhelming chemistry allows the couple to feel ‘normal’ for a change.
Let’s welcome Ronnie (portrayed by Jackie Earle Haley), a recently released sex offender who is now released from prison, into our narrative. Mother’s (Phyllis Somerville) attempts to try and help him out are laughingly sad reminders that the new Ronnie is really not the boy who left for prison. The release of new Ronnie captures the attention of Larry Emmerich, a local policeman with his own vices who views this boy as a means for redemption.
These flawed characters intersect in ways that make sense out of the ordinary and the pacing is sharp enough to ensure that none of the pieces are forgotten. Throughout the film, dialogue conveys humor which lightens the otherwise dark atmosphere of the movie. Sarah and Brad’s affair is played with conviction by both leads, while Haley does manage to bring humanity to a man who is best described as a monster. Meanwhile, the family-friendly locations provide a deceptively innocent backdrop against which the characters live a sinful life. One of these seemingly innocent public parks acts as a trigger for an erotic encounter while a child’s pool is host to a scene so viscerally vicious that you can’t ignore it.
None of this, however, overshadows emotionally the most powerful thread; the shocking violence Ronnie commits at the end of his mother-arranged date is so painful not just because of its futile quality, but because of how much all of us, like his mother, want him to succeed. Every single one of us, actually, reasons why Ronnie is so sympathetic. Sarah is saving her family from a porn addict husband, but is an adulterer really any better? And dwelling on the courtship of Sarah, Brad is quite fascinating in a playful way only because unlike him, we know it’s ridiculous right from the start.
Shifting from Todd Field’s earlier masterpiece In the Bedroom (2001), Little Children gives a glimpse of hope to its characters (and audience) as the story progresses towards resolving itself on a high note. What is striking is how through skilled directing and emotionally-loaded portrayal of these people, whose aspirations of love, in their own ways, appear so desperate, we feel compassion.
To watch more movies like (Little Children (2006)) visit 123Movies.
Also Watch for more movies like:
