Little Children

In Todd Field’s Little Children - Kate Winslet plays Sarah, a suburban mom frustrated with her dull life and at odds with other more typical stay-at-home moms. She has an affair with Brad, a hot stay-at-home dad whom she meets at playground - and the result is a competent drama that asks the audience to look deeper into their own lives.

Little Children is based on Tom Perrotta’s same-name novel and at times, especially the beginning, the movie actually feels like a book reading with reenactment involved. In America, it seems too much to ask for someone to read a book. We have to reduce everything into a two-hour entertainment in order for people to absorb any important messages. It is the exact pathetic behavior and close-mindedness that Perrotta made fun of in his book.

Overall the movie is a pretty faithful adaptation of Perrotta’s book (maybe because it is adapted by Perrotta along with Field) and it picks up its pace a bit after the first twenty or so slow minutes. I read the book a few years back. Watching the movie helps me gain a new perspective on the whole story. It doesn’t really condemn American suburbia conformity. There is nothing wrong if one feels happy staying home and taking care of the family. What is disturbing is the intolerance and hypocrisy beneath that conformity.

The role of Sarah’s husband has been reduced dramatically, but the side plot about the pedophile Ronnie stays in the movie. In the book, that plot is really a distraction, forced there to create some high drama conflict. It is a shame when a writer (or maybe publisher) doesn’t trust his central theme about everyday strife will be interesting enough for readers. The book, in my opinion, would have been more powerful if it had left out the whole pedophile angle. In the movie, that side plot, in part, is redeemed by an excellent Oscar nominated performance by former child actor Jackie Earle Haley.

The cast may be the best thing about this movie. Kate Winslet, on her way to prove that she may be the Meryl Streep of her generation, delivers another powerful performance. Her Sarah is a strong-minded and well-educated young woman who feels trapped in her suburban existence. Her intelligence and spirit is far above other suburban moms and beyond her husband’s understanding. She finally feels a little alive when she starts her affair with the neighborhood “Prom King” Brad. Sarah, in the book, is supposed to be quite plain. Winslet does try hard to make her look ordinary, but her beauty still shines through unkempt hair and little made-up face. Meanwhile, Jennifer Connelly is at her loveliest playing Brad’s knockout wife Kathy. Her performance is not that extraordinary, but she certainly looks the part. I was quite impressed with Patrick Wilson who plays Brad in the movie. His dark good look is seductive on screen and one can easily see why all the women are attracted to him, but he is also very convincing as a husband with little ambition and still not quite fully grown up. He holds his own when sharing screen time with Winslet. His quiet demeanor nicely offsets Sarah’s passionate hunger.

Compared with a lot of the junks populating cinemas these days, Little Children is not a bad movie. In some scenes, the music, the lighting and the performance can really touch your heart. However, the movie as a whole is not very memorable.