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Little Children

 
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Little Children

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  • Director: Todd Field
  • AMG Rating: starstarstarstar
  • Genre: Drama
  • Movie Type: Marriage Drama, Psychological Drama
  • Themes: Infidelity, Parenthood, Suburban Dysfunction
  • Main Cast: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Noah Emmerich
  • Release Year: 2006
  • Country: US
  • Run Time: 137 minutes
  • MPAA Rating: R

Plot

Oscar-nominated filmmaker Todd Field teams with novelist Tom Perrotta to adapt Perrotta's acclaimed novel concerning the suburban malaise experienced by a handful of small-town individuals whose intersecting lives converge in a variety of surprising, and sometimes ominous, ways. Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, and Patrick Wilson star in a cinematic adaptation that doesn't aim so much to simply reproduce the book for the screen as it does to re-imagine the written word by exploring new possibilities for the characters and situations originally presented in Perrotta's 2004 best-seller. Sarah (Winslet) is a suburban outsider who, unlike the other playground moms, isn't afraid to approach the dreamy but long-absent father whom smitten housewives have taken to calling the "Prom King." Long days at the local community pool with their respective children soon find Sarah becoming acquainted with local husband and father Brad (Patrick Wilson) -- who seems to share in her seething discontentment with life in their quaint commuter town. An English literature major who never envisioned a fate as a soccer mom, Sarah has a growing dissatisfaction with her successful husband (Gregg Edelman) that parallels Brad's increasing frustration with his inability to pass the bar and connect with his wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a successful documentary filmmaker. It's not long before the dejected pair is meeting for a series of illicit afternoon trysts as their unsuspecting spouses work and their children lie quietly napping. Meanwhile, after the community is riled by the return of a convicted sex offender (Jackie Earle Haley) who leaves the concerned parents scrambling to protect their young ones, an attempt made by Sarah and Brad to legitimize their clandestine relationship by dining together with their respective spouses begins to awaken Kathy's suspicions about the fidelity of her husband. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Review

A funny, piercing examination of suburban selfishness and fear, Todd Field's adaptation of Tom Perrotta's novel Little Children is a masterful example of humanist filmmaking. As illicit lovers Sarah and Brad, Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson excel at portraying self-absorption, though they each come from distinctly different emotional places. Winslet's depiction of Sarah's fierce intelligence makes her lack of self-awareness all the more tragic. At numerous points in the film, Sarah displays a casual disregard for her three-year-old daughter when the toddler shows basic needs for her mother's attention, and Winslet's illustration of this dispassion is frighteningly realistic. Meanwhile, Brad is eternally immature, forever chafing at demands of responsibility, and unwilling or unable to live life on his own terms without a mother or wife to answer to. While countless films paint monstrous pictures of the horrors of bad parenting, Little Children sheds light onto the much more insidiously easy trap of negligent parenting.

The collective fear of these characters is that a safe and quiet life might not be what they really want. Despite the rigid structures of suburban etiquette, they all finally get the excuse to vent their frustrations when Ronnie, a convicted child molester played by Jackie Earle Haley, moves into the neighborhood. Ronnie's presence disrupts the community's placid exterior and, at last, the repressed suburbanites are able to breach their self-imposed silence and express their long-held anxieties by transferring their feelings onto this new, perceived threat. Haley's exceptional performance makes this rather schematic character entirely relatable, even during his most disturbing moments. He understands all of his worst instincts, but for all his effort is still unable to resist them. The most remarkable achievement of the film is that the three leads, as well as all of the supporting characters, are viewed with a lucid sense of compassion and humanity. The worst of their flaws and the consequences of their behaviors are presented unflinchingly, but the film passes judgment only on actions, never on people. The way Field and his gifted cast inspire us to feel for these often unlikable people makes the message at the heart of the film quite clear: that adulthood is defined by empathy. Funny, tragic, and very knowledgeable about human behavior, Little Children is full of truth. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide

Cast

Gregg Edelman - Richard Pierce; Phyllis Somerville - May McGorvey; Raymond J. Barry - Bullhorn Bob; Jane Adams - Sheila; Ty Simpkins - Aaron Adamson; Helen Carey - Jean; Sadie Goldstein - Lucy Pierce; Catherine Wolf - Marjorie; Mary B. McCann - Mary Ann; Trini Alvarado - Theresa; Marsha Dietlein Bennett - Cheryl; Sarah Buxton - Slutty Kay; Thomas Greaney - Troy; Anna Audia - Isabella; Celestial Hakim - Courtney; Hunter Reid - Christian; Chad Brown - Tony Correnti; Phil McGlaston - Rogers, Dewayne; Bruce Kirkpatrick - Bart Williams; Adam Mucci - Richie Murphy; Chance Kelly - Pete Olaffson; Rebecca Schull - Laurel; Crystal Field - Josephine; Lola Pashalinski - Bridget; Walker Ryan - 'G'; David Cole - Skateboarder 2; Weston Elrod - skateboarder 3; Erica Berg - Richard's Secretary; Leo Trombetta - Frank; Christopher Nicholas Smith - Steakhouse Waiter; Adam Sietz - Large Man; Tom Perrotta - Small Man; Stan Carp - Cabbie; Sandra Berrios - Kind Woman in Hospital; Ivar Brogger - ICU Counsellor; Myra Turley - ICU Nurse; David Rowdon - Tow Yard Attendant; Paul Mott - Boy in Katy's Documentary; Margaret Pace - EMT; Beatrice Rigaud - Concerned Mom at Pool; Mary Goggin - Concerned Mom at Pool; Jillian Lindig - Concerned Mom at Pool; William Harvey - Policeman at Pool; Casper Andreas - Policeman at Pool; Matt Garifo - Lifegaurd; Brooke Fazio - Snack Girl; Monica Dobson - Wading Pool Mom; Ken Tirado - Bartender; Carlie LaPorta - Children at Steakhouse; Joe C. Guest - Ted From Richard's Office; Bruce Gross - Ray From Next Door; Patrick Larkin - Auditor Team Captain; Michael Diesel - Police Officer at McGorvey's; Leon Vitali - Oddly Familiar Man; Conrad Angel Corral - Slutty Kay Fan Club Member; Darrell E. Geer - Slutty Kay Fan Club Member; Gil Ira Hayes - Slutty Kay Fan Club Member; Mark A. Pierce - Slutty Kay Fan Club Member; Marshall Lefcourt - Slutty Kay Fan Club Member; Jennifer Rainville - Reporter; Gary Anthony Ramsay - off-screen anchor; Patricia A. Gangemi - Concerned Parent; Cynthia L. Wiese - Concerned Parent; Loren Wiese - Concerned Parent; Clare F. Mithcell - Concerned Parent; John Begley - Background Football Player; Travis Koestler - Skateboarder; Daniel Falla - Skateboarder; Luis Tolentilo - Skateboarder; Tugman Tookmanlian - Skateboarder

Credit

John Kasarda - Art Director, Leon Vitali - Associate Producer, Michele Weiss - Associate Producer, Todd Thaler - Casting, Belinda Monte - Casting, Thomas Newman - Conductor, Melinda Eshelman - Costume Designer, Melissa Economy - Costume Designer, Mike Topoozian - First Assistant Director, Todd Field - Director, David Wagreich - Second Unit Director, Leo Trombetta - Editor, Patrick Palmer - Executive Producer, Toby Emmerich - Executive Producer, Kent Alterman - Executive Producer, Susie Mazzarese-Allison - Hair Styles, Mike Kriaris - Location Manager, Thomas Newman - Composer (Music Score), Randy Houston Mercer - Makeup, Chip Williams - Makeup, David Knox - Camera Operator, Michael Caracciolo - Camera Operator, David Gropman - Production Designer, Antonio Calvache - Cinematographer, Todd Field - Producer, Ron Yerxa - Producer, Albert Berger - Producer, Douglas Crosby - Stunts Coordinator, Erik Martin - Stunts Coordinator, Patrick Palmer - Unit Production Manager, Ray Quinlan - Unit Production Manager, Todd Field - Screenwriter, Tom Perrotta - Screenwriter, David Wagreich - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Cash Cockerill - Second Unit Camera, Frank Salvino - Post Production Supervisor, Greg Outcalt - Production Coordinator, Martin Lasowitz - Properties Master, Chris Carpenter - Re-Recording Mixer, Chris Jenkins - Re-Recording Mixer, Virginia Saenz McCarthy - Script Supervisor, Stacey Beneville - Second Assistant Director, Michael Bird - Special Effects Coordinator, Michael Caracciolo - Steadicam Operator, William M. Riley - Supervising Sound Editor, Debra Zane - Additional Casting, Tannis Vallely - Additional Casting, Russ Engels - Chief Lighting Technician, Michelle Johnson - Key Hairstylist, Richard Mancuso - Production Accountant, Eric W. Henriquez - Second Second Assistant Director, Emily Glatter - Supervising Production Coordinator, Big Film Design - Visual Effects, Susan Bode-Tyson - Set Decorator, Tom Perrotta - Book Author, Edward Tise - Production Sound Mixer, Michelle Johnson - Department Head Hair, Linda Melazzo - Department Head Makeup, Patrick Mangan - Second Unit Second Assistant Director, Louis J. Guerra - Second Unit Second Assistant Director

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Wikipedia: Little Children (film)
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Little Children

Little Children theatrical poster
Directed by Todd Field
Produced by Todd Field
Albert Berger
Ron Yerxa
Written by Novel:
Tom Perrotta
Screenplay:
Todd Field
Tom Perrotta
Narrated by Will Lyman
Starring Kate Winslet
Patrick Wilson
Jennifer Connelly
Noah Emmerich
Jackie Earle Haley
Phyllis Somerville
Gregg Edelman
Music by Thomas Newman
Distributed by New Line Cinema
Release date(s) October 6, 2006
Running time 130 min.
Country United States
Language English
Budget $14,000,000
Gross revenue Worldwide:
$14,821,658

Little Children is a 2006 drama film directed by Todd Field. It is based on the novel of the same name by Tom Perrotta, who along with Field wrote the screenplay. It stars Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Noah Emmerich, and Jackie Earle Haley. The original music score is composed by Thomas Newman.

Contents

Plot summary

Sarah Pierce (Kate Winslet) is a former campus feminist and academic who is now a reluctant homemaker and mother in an upper-middle class suburb of Boston. Feeling stifled and aimless in her role as a mother, Sarah views her young daughter Lucy as a nuisance (describing her as an "unknowable little person"), and it doesn't help that Lucy refuses to do almost anything Sarah asks, such as get into strollers or carseats. Sarah feels out of place around the tedious and judgemental Stepford-like mothers she encounters on a daily basis at the local playground. Her marriage has become loveless, and she catches her husband masturbating to online pornography with a pair of panties over his face. Her reaction is to buy an eye-catching red bathing suit from a department store catalog to get the attention of Brad.

Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson) is a former college football player who's married to Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a documentary filmmaker. The couple have a young son, Aaron. Brad is depressed and frustrated, unable to deal with his non-dominant position in the relationship, as his wife is the breadwinner and he is a stay-at-home father who has failed the bar exam twice. Each day, he leaves home with the pretense of going to the library to study, but in actuality he watches skateboarders at the park. He joins a policeman's touch football team at the urging of a friend, Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich), a disgraced former police officer.

Early in the story, Sarah and Brad meet on the playground, where Sarah suggests they hug to shock the mothers nearby. Brad ups the ante and plants a kiss on her lips. While the other mothers freak out and take their children away from the playground, it's apparent that Brad and Sarah have discovered a sudden attraction. Weeks pass before Sarah musters the gumption to take Lucy to the pool, where she knows Brad and Aaron often go. Over the course of several regular visits, they get to know each other while their children also bond. After Brad, Sarah and the children are caught in a rainstorm at the pool, they rush to Sarah's house. The children are already asleep, and are put to bed upstairs for a nap. While Sarah dries their beach towels so that they can sit on the furniture in their soaked clothes, Brad mills about the house and comes upon a book of poetry in Sarah's study. He finds a picture of himself, shirtless and in the pool wedged in the book. Realizing that Sarah has feelings for him, he surprises her in the basement with another kiss. Brad and Sarah have a moment alone in the basement at Sarah's home, where they kiss and have sex in the laundry room.

Meanwhile, Ronald "Ronnie" James McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley), who has served a prison sentence for indecent exposure to a minor, has moved back into the neighborhood to live with his mother. Larry launches a hate campaign against Ronnie, handing out posters, vandalizing his house, harassing and almost assaulting the man and his mother. Ronnie's mother admonishes Larry, saying that Ronnie would never have done what Larry did. It is revealed that Larry accidentally shot a 13-year-old boy at a mall during his time as a policeman, and left the force after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. He takes out this anger on Ronnie. Ronnie goes to the neighborhood pool and the police are called. Ronnie's mother (Phyllis Somerville) sets him up on a date, though he tells her that he doesn't desire women his own age. The date starts off well but ends with him masturbating in his date's car as he looks at a nearby playground. As his date cries helplessly, he threatens her to keep quiet.

"Little Children" is one of those rare films that transcends its source material. Firmly rooted in the present and in our current frame of mind — a time and frame of mind that few artists have shown interest in really exploring — the movie is one of the few films I can think of that examines the baffling combination of smugness, self-abnegation, ceremonial deference and status anxiety that characterizes middle-class Gen X parenting, and find sheer, white-knuckled terror at its core."[1]
—Carina Chocano, The Los Angeles Times.

Sarah becomes increasingly serious in her affair with Brad, becoming tearful at not being a part of his life the way Kathy is. She stakes out and watches Brad and his family on weekends, the only time she and he can't be together. Kathy, after hearing Aaron speak about his new friend, Lucy, encourages Brad to invite the Pierces over for dinner. At dinner, Kathy picks up on the sexual tension between Sarah and Brad. Kathy enlists her mother to spy on Brad during the day and keep him away from Sarah.

At a football game, Brad is surprised, then delighted to find Sarah alone in the bleachers cheering him on as he scores the winning touchdown. After making out on the field, Brad asks Sarah to run away with him. They agree to meet at the park the next night. A drunk Larry goes to McGorvey's house and further harasses him, using a megaphone to wake the entire neighborhood and warn them about Ronnie. When Mrs. McGorvey tries to stop him, Larry pushes her down. She has a heart attack, dying later in the hospital - but is able to write her son a final message in a note: "Please be a good boy." Ronnie is overwhelmed at losing the one person who loved him, and goes on a rampage throughout the house, crying hysterically. He only seems to achieve an eerie calm when he finds a kitchen knife in the drawer.

"Mr. Field proves to be among the most literary of American filmmakers. In too many recent movies intelligence is woefully undervalued, and it is this quality — even more than its considerable beauty — that distinguishes “Little Children” from its peers. A movie that is challenging, accessible, and hard to stop thinking about."[2]

Sarah packs a bag hastily, and takes Lucy to the playground to wait for Brad. Brad has said good-bye to his son and packed up some belongings. He sneaks past his unsuspecting wife and runs to the playground, but is again transfixed by the young skateboarders - who finally speak to him, and dare him to try just one jump on a short stair rail. Brad can't resist. Even though he "almost nailed it, dude", he falls and blacks out. Sarah leaves Lucy by herself on a swing while trying to comfort Ronnie, who has run into the playground, crying hysterically. Her daughter goes missing and Sarah runs into the street, screaming Lucy's name. She is frightened into realizing that leaving Richard would be a terrible mistake. Once she finds Lucy, transfixed by a street light and the bugs that it attracts, Sarah tearfully embraces her daughter and goes home. Brad is taken to the hospital and asks the police officer who was first on the scene - one of his football teammates - to call his wife. One of the skateboarders also discovers a note addressed to "Kathy" and gives it to Brad. The note was his goodbye to Kathy - a note that we'd been led to believe he'd left on the nightstand, and now only discover that he didn't have the courage to.

Larry comes to the park to find Ronnie and apologize for harassing him. Noticing blood dripping off of the swing on which Ronnie's seated, he is horrified to discover that Ronnie has castrated himself with the kitchen knife so that he can "be a good boy" as his mother asked. Panicked, Larry picks Ronnie up and takes him to the hospital. They arrive just as a concerned and doting Kathy meets Brad's ambulance at the emergency room doors.

The film ends with an image of a saddened Sarah sleeping alongside Lucy in their home with the film's narrator stating: "You couldn't change the past. But the future could be a different story. And it had to start somewhere."

Cast

Main characters

Supporting characters

Adaptation

For this film, director Todd Field and novelist Tom Perrotta intended to take the story in a separate and somewhat different direction than the novel. "When Todd and I began collaborating on the script, we were hoping to make something new out of the material, rather than simply reproducing the book onto film," says Perrotta on the film's official site.

Awards and nominations

Wins

Nominations

DVD

The DVD was released on May 1, 2007. It was Todd Field's wish that there be no commentary or special features accompanying the film. Consequently, there will be no special edition of any kind in the future.[4]

Film Archives

35mm safety prints are housed in both the UCLA Film & Television Archive[5] and the Museum of Modern Art's permanent film collection.[6]

Notes

  1. ^ Chocano, Carina (6 October 2006). "Satire & Terror Brilliantly Blended". The Los Angeles Times. 
  2. ^ Scott, A.O. (29 September 2006). "Playground Rules: No Hitting, No Sex = The New York Times". 
  3. ^ (Dec. 1, 2006). Official press release for International Press Academy Satellite Awards Nominations. Retrieved from http://www.pressacademy.com/satawards/forms/pdf/2006-IPA-Nom-Announce.pdf on December 2, 2006.
  4. ^ Nichols, Peter (May 1, 2007). "Field's DVD Without The Frills". The New York Times. 
  5. ^ . UCLA Film & Television Archive. 
  6. ^ . Museum of Modern Art. 

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