LITTLE CHILDREN

By
Shannon Onstot
Community Relations Manager
KUNV 91.5 FM
University of Nevada Las Vegas
email: smonstot@yahoo.com


 

 

It’s hard not to compare Little Children to American Beauty; both expose the underbelly of suburban life, both feature narration throughout, and both have a stellar cast. However, the slow, quiet dialogue and relatively uneventful plot of Little Children makes American Beauty seem like a lively comedy by comparison.

Don’t get me wrong, I loved Little Children, but it can’t be compared to American Beauty even though that’s what everybody seems to want to do. I can’t bring myself to do it, they’re just too different.

Little Children is based on the Tom Perotta novel of the same name, and it seems to be pretty accurate to the book, at least for the first half (I can’t tell you how accurate the second half is, I can’t seem to find the time to finish the novel after trying for a year). The characters in the movie are just how I envisioned them in the book: Kate Winslet plays a smart, slightly homely frustrated mother, Patrick Wilson plays a discontent father struggling to rediscover his youth, and Jackie Earle Haley plays a sex offender who has recently moved back into their neighborhood.

I thought the casting was great, and my favorite member of the cast wasn’t even credited – the narrator who comes and goes throughout the film has more lines than all of the characters combined, but I had to do some real research to find out who he was. Turns out, it’s Will Lyman, the guy who narrates the PBS Nova programs. Perhaps his background is what made the film seem so much like a voyeuristic documentary.

The storyline is slow, and not a whole lot happens until the end. Basically, Winslet’s character (Sarah Pierce) and Barnes’ character (Brad Adamson) begin an affair. Both face moral questions when it comes to their spouses, their children and their careers. Their affair almost becomes a subplot in comparison to that of Haley’s character (Ronnie J. McGorvey). When McGorvey is released from prison after being convicted of exposing himself to young children, he is under close watch from “The Committee of Concerned Parents” and has to try and start all over again when it comes to a relationship with his mother, his love life, and being part of his community.

Despite his weasley appearance and sordid past, I found myself really feeling sympathetic for the McGorvey character. Sure, he made mistakes, but people in the neighborhood do some pretty awful things to him. It was refreshing to see a film that portrayed a sex offender as a human being instead of an emotionless monster. In the same light, Brad and Sarah’s affair is met with understanding from the audience, but not from their community.

What really set this film apart for me was the lighting, the long takes, and the lush scenery. The film was shot all over the East Coast (Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York) and is set in the summer time, so I felt overwhelmed by all the greenery. I could physically feel the humidity and the heaviness, and the lighting added a little bit of complexity to the scenes. Borrowing a term from the world of art, the lighting was very “Caravaggisti,” as in there are no outside influences, and the darkness around the brightly lit subjects create a sort of bubble around them.

I have one word of warning about this film, and for some it can be seen as a criticism, but I actually enjoyed this part of the movie. I could see how many would be bothered by it though. My warning is this: make sure you’re not tired or distracted before you see this film. The plot is almost painfully slow, and again, I enjoyed it, but I did hear some snores coming from the back aisles. If you’re not turned off by a slower approach to filmmaking or storytelling, and you like to read between the lines, then you’ll really love Little Children.