Continuing to look back at must-see films from the stars of the latest Jason Reitman comedy, "Young Adult" (4 / 5 stars), here's a highly fascinating suburban drama, "Little Children" (2006). Patrick Wilson (from "Young Adult") plays as dad who catches the eye of an unhappy mom (Kate Winslet). This picture received three Oscar nominations, and director/co-writer Todd Field's film was one of my favorite movies from 2006.
I also believe "Little Children" is one of the best films of the last decade.
(So far, we've examined the coming-of-age story, "The Cider House Rules" (1999) and a grim military mystery, "In the Valley of Elah" (2007) starring Charlize Theron, and an intense drama about an obsessive football fanatic, "Big Fan" (2009) starring Patton Oswalt)
“Little Children” (2006) 5 / 5 stars - Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson play characters - in director/co-writer Todd Field’s highly absorbing drama - who search for something more than their suburban lives promise to bring.
Brilliantly shot and constructed, Field paints less than perfect circumstances for four families and intersects their lives over a hot summer in Massachusetts.
Smaller players - like an angry middle-aged former police officer named Larry (Noah Emmerich) and a registered sex offender just released from a two-year prison sentence named Ronnie (Jackie Earle Haley) - help shape the layered plot, but Brad (Wilson) and Sarah (Winslet) are the main focus.
Both feeling trapped in loveless marriages and parents to only children, they meet on the playground one day.
Soon, Sarah and Brad develop a close friendship, and with no love at home, could romance blossom?
Meanwhile, what is not blossoming is Larry's career as a police officer. No longer on the force, Larry’s main focus now is terrorizing Ronnie and his mother, May (Phyllis Somerville).
Due to Ronnie’s criminal past, Larry feels his efforts are completely justified.
Of course, no one would be comfortable with a person who exposed himself to children living close by, but Larry takes his outrage to outrageous levels.
Field masterfully pulls our emotional strings and blurs the moral line between a former law officer and a convicted felon.
However, make no mistake, Ronnie is dangerous, and Haley's performance is unforgettable.
Haley rightly received a Best Supporting Actor nomination, and gives Ronnie a profound sense of creepiness, but also plays on his vulnerabilities as well.
Ronnie knows his sinister tendencies all too well, and believes there’s no chance to fix his damaged soul.
Brad and Sarah feel damaged in their own ways.
Brad’s apathetic towards his marriage and career, and Wilson is perfectly cast as the attractive househusband looking for a way out of his life.
He might have just found it in Sarah.
Running away with Sarah could be an option, but for now, trips to the pool for their children’s play dates suffice for the time being.
Sarah’s damage presents itself in the form of her self-inflicted prison sentence.
She’s unhappily married and aggravated with motherhood.
Through her relationship with Brad, however, she fights for her own happiness.
Winslet was nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her role as Sarah, and she delivers a brave and open, but also grounded performance.
Sarah measures herself up against Brad’s gorgeous wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), and self-doubt and deprecation boil to the surface.
Sarah’s unfairly critical of her own beauty and grace, and that’s such a mistake.
Sarah is the most bewitching woman on-screen.
In these neighborhoods, everyone plays their expected part, but not many residents are very happy with their choices.
Field - to his credit - doesn’t play a shallow game that states self-righteous rebellion is right, "but there's something beautiful and even heroic" about it.
“Little Children” is rated R and is available on DVD.
Jeff Mitchell is on Twitter: @MitchFilmCritic
