LITTLE CHILDREN

Director: Todd Field
Cast: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Noah Emmerich, Jackie, Earle Haley
Run Time: 130 minutes
Country: USA
Year: 2006
Language: English
Rating: 18A (Sexually suggestive scenes)

“Displaying many of the same qualities that distinguished Todd Field’s debut feature, IN THE BEDROOM, LITTLE CHILDREN is a deftly made, emotionally acute… examination of cracks in middle-class American family life.” – Todd McCarthy, Variety

Todd Field’s widely acclaimed IN THE BEDROOM electrified audiences at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival®, and now the immensely talented writer-director is back with LITTLE CHILDREN, adapted from the novel by Tom Perrotta and a Special Presentation at the 2006 Festival.

The film is a scathing and frequently hilarious dissection of the mores and rituals of a group of hot-to-trot fledgling parents, brought vividly to life by some of the best young actors working today: Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly and fast-rising star Patrick Wilson. Sarah (a phenomenal Winslet, ALL THE KING’S MEN, ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND) was made for better things: married to a jackass in the corporate branding business, the grad-school dropout is a stay-at-home mom to her adorable but demanding little daughter, Lucy (Sadie Goldstein). At the local playground she is subjected to the inane gossip of a trio of fellow mums, but their routine is broken by the sudden return of Brad (Wilson, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, HARD CANDY), a hunky househusband they’ve dubbed the Prom King. Despite being married to gorgeous Kathy (Connelly, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG) and father to cherubic Aaron (Ty Simpkins), Brad is going through his own malaise. Struggling to pass the bar exam, he is distracted by the lure of a touch-football night league. In an effort to scandalize the meddling mother hens, one day Sarah approaches Brad in the playground.

Spiked with a wry voice-over that gets under each character’s skin, LITTLE CHILDREN revolutionizes familiar narrative terrain. This audacious film is keenly sensitive to how ambitious young adults’ lives and desires change when they have kids (not to mention how parenting can become a competitive sport), and to the characteristics of a paranoid America living under “homeland security.” Many scenes are at once resonant and utterly surprising – just try not to be stunned by a key sequence at the town pool. From its bravura opening sequence to its sublime ending, LITTLE CHILDREN is smart, riveting filmmaking.

“[Director Todd] Field performs a high-wire act that balances hard truth and hard-won tenderness. Most movies fade from the memory. This one sticks.”– Peter Travers, Rolling Stone