Language: English
Cast: Kate Winslet (Sarah Pierce), Patrick Wilson (Brad Adamson), Jennifer Connelly (Kathy Adamson), Jackie Earle Haley (Ronnie McGorvey)
Producer: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa and Todd Field
Director: Todd Field
Writing credits: Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, based on the novel by Tom Perrotta
Release Date: Opens in New York and Los Angeles on October 6, 2006
Production House: New Line Cinema
Running Time: 137 minutes
Rating: R

Reviews

Tom Perrotta’s novel brought to life under director Todd Field’s able guidance. Little Children is a window into the lives of people in suburban Massachusetts. The film looks at life not as satirically as done in sitcoms like “Desperate Housewives” or movies like the American Beauty but in a more mature fashion. The ‘Titanic’ and ‘Finding Neverland’ may show the essential bubliness of her old characters but in this film also showcases darker yearnings

The movie essentially showcases two relationships – the romantic liaison between house wife Sarah and stay at home dad Brad played by Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson. The second is a darker relationship where the predator becomes the victim when a colleague of Brad starts stalking the convicted paedophile Ronnie McGorvey.

Little Children is a portrait of the lives of those rich and privileged who on closer examination seem to be fatigued by all the excesses in their lives. The problems and the frustrations of the stay-at-home dad and his quest for an identity are one of the important themes explored by the film.

Add to that the response of the house wife Sarah, who as a college educated young woman chooses to view the entire suburban life as an outsider yet being a part of the entire set up. The rules of the playground apply to the mothers as it does to the kids. In spite of being an essential part of innocent childhood it also manifests entirely the cruel apathy of human emotions.

The movie is a dark commentary that provides a good insight into the lives of a section of American society. A cathartic experience at best a window into the mess one makes of life at worst. Either way a movie worth the two hours it runs.