This was going to the the second post of our back-to-back Todd Fields, but for some reason it seemed perfect as a follow-up to Lolita. Maybe I don't want to go there (leclisse can make all the "boring white people" jokes he wants, but the mere suggestion of a Pedophile Week and he's freaked out that I'll scare everyone away). Suffice it to say that this is a great movie with a great cast from one of the best American directors working today. And that this may be my favourite use of voiceover ever.
From Stephen Holden at the New York Times:
FEW directorial debuts in recent years have raised such high expectations as “In the Bedroom,” Todd Field’s adaptation of the Andre Dubus short story “Killings.” That drama won five Oscar nominations, including best picture, actor and actress (for Tom Wilkinson and Sissy Spacek); and Mr. Field received an award from the New York Film Critics Circle for best first film. Now, five years later, comes “Little Children,” his screen adaptation of Tom Perrotta’s satirically edged 2004 novel of contemporary suburban life and its discontents.
In light of its forerunner the choice makes perfect sense. As he demonstrated with “In the Bedroom,” Mr. Field, an actor turned director, scans the depths of his characters’ souls and sees them whole. This psychological radar is a gift he shares with Mr. Perrotta, with whom he wrote the screenplay for “Little Children.”
The double-edged title refers not only to the suburban kids who more or less run their parents’ lives, but also to the 30- and 40-something adults whose needy inner children cry out for release. One of its wistful themes is that, like it or not, having children brings your own youth to a crashing halt; you’re no longer at the center of things.
The story’s emotional lightning rod is Ronald James McGorvey, a damaged middle-aged man who has recently returned to live with his mother after serving time for exposing himself to children. He is a pariah in their suburban Boston community and a focus of its collective fears, embodied by Larry Hedges, a disgraced former cop with a violent streak who wants to hound him out of town.
In one of the novel’s most disturbing scenes, Ronald’s presence at a public swimming pool on a brutally hot day precipitates mass panic among the assembled mothers watching over their children. In the film Ronald is played by the former child star Jackie Earle Haley. His powerfully creepy portrayal is a pointed departure from the standard screen image of the child molester or flasher as an ordinary guy with an unfortunate kink.
Two mismatched couples fill out the rest of the film, which will be shown Sept. 30 at the New York Film Festival and is set to open on Oct. 6. Kate Winslet and Gregg Edelman play Sarah and Richard Pierce, and Jennifer Connelly and Patrick Wilson are Kathy and Brad Adamson. Noah Emmerich plays the former cop. The abundance of subplots in “Little Children” — more than are in “In the Bedroom” — is one reason that the film incorporates a sporadic voice-over (by an authoritative male narrator) to push the story along.
A major subplot in the novel, and its most satirical thread — Richard’s deepening addiction to Internet pornography — is alluded to, then dropped. The movie concentrates on the affair between Sarah and Brad (called Todd in the novel), who is so handsome the women refer to him as “the Prom King” when he shows up at the playground with his son.
Brad, who plays quarterback on the local football team and is entranced by teenage skateboarding culture, is a classic case of a man in the throes of Peter Pan syndrome. But in the movie’s kind and patient view, we all carry varying shades and degrees of arrested development into adult life.
Technical Information:
Title: Little Children
Year: 2006
Country: USA
Director: Todd Field
Source: DVD9
DVD Format: NTSC
Container: .iso + mds
Size: 7.59 GB
Length: 2:16:38
Programs used: DVD Decrypter, ImgBurn
Resolution: 720x480
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Video: MPEG2 @ ~5800 kb/s
Frame Rate: 29.97
Audio 1: English- Dolby AC3 5.1 @ 448 kb/s
Audio 2: French- Dolby AC3 Stereo @ 192 kb/s
Subtitles: English, French
Menu: Yes
Video: Untouched
DVD Extras: None on source
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