FemaleFirst.co.uk: DVD: Little Children [DVD] [2006]

Little Children [DVD] [2006]
enlarge	Director: Todd Field Actors: Patrick Wilson, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Winslet, Gregg Edelman, Jane Adams Studio: Entertainment in Video Category: DVD List Price: ~~£19.99~~ Buy New: £1.88 as of 21/11/2009 12:34 GMT details You Save: £18.11 (91%) New (27) Used (10) from £1.88 Seller: zoverstocks Rating: 32 reviews Sales Rank: 6254 Format: Anamorphic, PAL Language: English (Original Language) Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over Region: 2 Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1 Number Of Discs: 1 Running Time: 132 Minutes Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2 Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6 EAN: 5017239194696 ASIN: B000MQCBOK Theatrical Release Date: 2006 Release Date: May 14, 2007 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days


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Editorial Reviews: Amazon.co.uk Review Kate Winslet operates at a galaxy-class level in ILittle Children/I, Todd Field's gratifyingly grown-up look at unhappy suburbia. Winslet is magnificent, in an Oscar-nominated performance, as a stroller-pushing mother who becomes attracted to a passive househusband (Patrick Wilson). Their slow-burning infidelity (Field wisely allows time to pass in this unhurried film) is contrasted with a more sensational subplot, about a convicted pedophile (Jackie Earle Haley, also Oscar nominated) returning to the neighborhood to live with his mother (Phyllis Somerville). Field, who brought his civilized approach to IIn the Bedroom/I, uses a deliberately literary style here, including a device with a narrator who sounds as though he's sitting at our side as he reads from Tom Perotta's novel. (The narrator is a superb touch--his cultivated voice distances us from the sloppy passions of the characters.) The film's biggest miscalculation is a self-appointed neighborhood vigilante (Noah Emmerich) determined to make life miserable for the paedophile. But Wilson is appropriately nebulous, Jennifer Connelly solid as his wife, and Haley (child star of the IBad News Bears/I movies), as the creepy, childlike molester, found himself rediscovered after a long career layoff. There's decent acting here, but Winslet is in a zone of her own, with so much emotional honesty and subtlety of expression that she transforms a good movie into a must-see. I--Robert Horton/I

Customer Reviews: Showing reviews 1-5 of 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next » When the Masks of Children Come Off... July 17, 2007 Zinta Aistars (Portage, MI United States) 6 out of 6 found this review helpful In spite of its three Academy Award nominations, I had not heard of this movie, came across it merely by browsing the shelves at my neighborhood video store. Since I've been seeing quite a few Kate Winslet movies of late, most of which have ranged from interesting to impressive, I rented the movie on the strength of her name. Good decision. "Little Children" at this point ranks, in my mind, as Winslet's best performance to date. br / br /The various intertwining plots of this movie, narrated with wonderful lines from a Tom Perotta novel, would ordinarily have disturbed me if not inclined me to leave it on the shelf. And it was disturbing. Again and again, it made me cringe, and wince, and fidget, and roll my eyes, and sigh with exasperation. But keep watching. These are the "little children" (immature adults without control over their adolescent whims and whines) of a wealthier suburbia, including adulterous couples, cooling and troubled marriages, neglected but well adorned children, bored wives, fantasy-ridden husbands, porn-addicted executives, and the neighborhood pedophile living with Mommy, as he calls her, because who else would have him? br / br /Opening on a gated playground scene with mothers seated on a bench, only Winslet's character, Sarah Pierce, on a separate bench, watching their children at play, a young father (Patrick Wilson) with stroller enters the grounds - and the heads of the wives turn en masse. Prom King, they call him, and the fantasies of the bored wives quickly surround the pleasant young father as he plays with his little son at a distance. Nothing more desirable than a man playing with his child... only Sarah can hardly bear the cheap chatter of the women, and more to break it up than out of interest in the Prom King, she approaches him, gets his phone number on a dare, goes in for a hug to scandalize, and then, caught up in the tease of the horrified other mothers, lands a sensual kiss on the stranger. br / br /And onward and upward and hotter from there we go. br / br /The trigger for Sarah to unleash an affair, however, is not the kiss (although he, the recipient, can't stop thinking about it, even as he contemplates the cold superiority of his businesswoman wife who treats him more like a child than a husband - an interesting reversal of roles), but the discovery of her husband at home heaving and panting in front of a computer screen filled with a virtual stripping woman. Sarah is filled with disgust, her respect for her husband disintegrates, and when she searches and finds a wastebasket beneath the computer filled with stiffened tissues, she realizes she has encountered an ongoing addiction. Rather than confront her husband, she represses her disgust and unhappiness, as too many women do in similar situations, and purchases instead a scarlet red bathing suit in order to feel desirable again and heads to the neighborhood pool where the Prom King hangs out every summer afternoon. What pretends to be a new friendship soon is a full-blown affair. br / br /An interesting moment between the two takes place when Sarah asks her new lover if his wife is pretty. Oh yes, drop dead gorgeous, he tosses off his shrugging appraisal, but "beauty is highly overrated," he says, oblivious to the insult he has just paid his new lover, and as the narrator inserts - it takes a great kind of arrogance in one's own beauty to be so disparaging of another. But however tossed off, his comment reveals a deeper truth: the two are extraordinarily compatible and similar in their family torments and the beating each has sustained on their marital ego. br / br /Throughout this development of an affair, other sideline stories and characters evolve. There is the story of a pedophile (Jackie Earle Haley) and his mother (Phyllis Somerville), his deep attachment and dependence on her, the only human being who still cares about him, even as his behavior continues, sending the neighborhood into gyrations of horror and fear. There is the story of the bully cop (Noah Emmerich), just this side of being a criminal himself, who deteriotes into a vigilante chasing the pedophile, causing far more harm than good. And there are many rich and memorable scenes, which include a gathering of elderly neighborhood women with a few younger ones for spice, discussing the novel, Gustave Flaubert's riotous "Madame Bovary." There is the neighborhood's men's football team, and the portrayal of their often clumsy male bonding and destructive competition. Another winning scene has the cheated-upon wife, played by Jennifer Connelly, who mostly blends into background for other characters, observing a conversation between her husband and neighbor Sarah. As perhaps only women can, she understands from the most casual exchange between the two that there is far more intimacy between them than a man and woman friend should share. There is no raucous fireworks revelation of the affair, simply a silent observation, and a woman's instinct. She knows. Nor does she tell him that she knows. Again, like most women, she holds her knowledge inside, to quietly observe and await his hitting his own wall. br / br /For all its moments of discomfort, as so many of our hidden life stories and opened closet doors may cause, this entire story is exquisitely developed, with top level acting, nuanced dialogue, and meaning that unfolds upon even deeper meaning when the layers of masks humanity wears come off. The story concludes with a surprising twist that is also highly satisfying, yet no more "pretty" than life usually is. Not even in a wealthy corner of suburbia. An unusual film.. April 5, 2008 biggest Joni fan ever 1 out of 1 found this review helpful I agree with the review that likens this film to ''Desperate Housewives''. There is something about the quality and some of the characters that does bear a resemblance. Having said that - I thought it was very good indeed and quite unusual. I ended up having sympathy for some of the characters in the film who were actually quite repulsive. I liked the ''story book'' quality of the film, the narrative. Kate Winslett is very good in the role of a bored and discontented housewife. It is easy to see why she ends up having an affair as her husband is a self centred idiot with some rather disturbing sexual habits (there is also a large dose of humour in this film). The ending is unusual and I give this film 9 out of 10. Be careful what you wish for........ April 16, 2008 Sizzle (UK) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful I don't want to spoil your enjoyment by giving the plot away so will give just a broad outline. br / br /The main plot is strong develops at a good pace however there are also a couple of sub-plots which also roll along nicely. Central to them both is the theme that people find themselves in situations that they no longer enjoy but feel trapped until something happens to give them a sight of what could be. br / br /The film has an interesting commentary feature, more prevalent at the beginning, which helps the development of the story also makes me believe it could work very well as a play. br / br /A slow burner but worth watching gives food for thought about what people really want settle for. Thought-provoking September 8, 2007 waigie (Ireland) 18 out of 18 found this review helpful This is a movie which I would recommend to anyone. despite its flaws, adequately enumerated by other reviewers here, the message(s) of the movie are unusual and the whole so well acted, particularly by Ms Winslet, that this is really a must-see. It is very unusual to show the life of a paedophile in such detail and the point here, in relation to all the main characters, is that it is appropriate to have empathy, sympathy even, for anyone - i.e. there's something worthwhile in all. Also, regarding the title, it struck me afterwards that the writer was postulating that none of us is really mature - each of the key characters take decisions/actions at some point here that are not those of so-called mature sensible grown-ups, but which are plausible nonetheless. A difficult to categorise movie because of the various plots and the occasional disturbing scenes (the paedophile on his date was particularly tragic), but one that is ultimately a rewarding and enjoyable watch, despite the slow pace. american beauty meets desparate housewives February 2, 2007 jrhartley 24 out of 27 found this review helpful This film explores the hidden lives of surburbia in a similar way that American Beauty did before it, only from a more broader perspective - both in terms of protagonists and also, perhaps, the social context. Characters are well constructed and the storyline credible. In essence, the film is a dig as life in the suburbs - extra-marital affairs, pressure to do well in work, set against the fear of paedophilia / child abduction (hence the film's name). The film's title is also probably referential not only to the children who are being so vehemently watched under the threat of a known child molester living in the vicinity, but also in the naivity of their own hopes and dreams, which are in reality, only short-lived whims. So we go on to see, that despite the thrill of the notion of change, in surburbia, plus ca change. Well acted, well shot, this film isn't predictable right to the end, making it a compelling watch. Worth the investment of your time to see. Showing reviews 1-5 of 32 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next »

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