Little Children
for strong sexuality and nudity, language and some disturbing content.
Reviewed by: Rev. Grant Wright
CONTRIBUTOR
| Moral Rating: | Extremely Offensive |
| Moviemaking Quality: |
|
| Primary Audience: | Adults |
| Genre: | Crime, Drama, Romance, Adaptation |
| Length: | 2 hr. 10 min. |
| Year of Release: | 2006 |
| USA Release: |
October 6, 2006 (limited) |
How can I tell if I’m getting addicted to pornography or sex? Answer
How can I deal with temptations? Answer
Pedophilia—I think I was sexually abused, but I’m not sure. What is sexual abuse, and what can I do to stop the trauma I am facing now? Answer
Sexual Abuse of Children by Catholic priests, article written by a survivor—Go
Does God feel our pain? Answer
Why does God allow innocent people to suffer? Answer
What about the issue of suffering? Doesn’t this prove that there is no God and that we are on our own? Answer
What kind of world would you create? Answer
Feminism—What about feminism and women’s lib?
How to Deal with Your Sexual Addiction—pornography, cybersex, phone sex, masturbation, etc.
Nudity—Why are humans supposed to wear clothes? Answer
| Featuring | Kate Winslet, Jennifer Connelly, Patrick Wilson, Jackie Earle Haley, Gregg Edelman |
| Director |
Todd Field |
| Producer | Kent Alterman, Toby Emmerich, Patrick Palmer |
| Distributor |
 New Line Cinema, division of Warner Bros. Pictures
|
- best “Adapted screenplay”
- best “Performance by an actress in a leading role” (Kate Winslet)
- best “Performance by an actor in a supporting role” (actor Jackie Earle Haley)
A story like this cannot be told without being offensive. I would warn any Christian wanting to view this movie to reconsider. “Little Children” deals with many of the darker subjects of this world, including adultery, pedophilia and bigotry. Nudity is strong with many sex scenes. There are also multiple male masturbation scenes. Language is offensive throughout.
Looking past what offends is a story being told that is charming, despite its dark subject matter. Todd Field (director) has done a spectacular job in bringing Tom Perrotta’s (author) characters to life. The character development is helped by the narration from Will Lyman. The soundtrack by Thomas Newman helps by setting mood effectively.
The story itself is a mash up of essentially three separate stories coming together through joint acquaintances. The primary of the three is that of Brad (Patrick Wilson) and Sarah (Kate Winslet). Their chance meeting in the community park where their children play is fueled for Sarah by the ogling community mothers who fantasize over this attractive man is who brings his son to the park. Sarah is also dealing with the fact that she has discovered her husband’s addiction to internet pornography. Brad, on the other hand, is keen to build a friendship with Sarah as she believes in him and encourages him. Something lacking from his wife who wants him to pass the bar exam, which he has already failed twice. What starts as a friendship progresses to a dangerous affair that dominates the rest of their story.
One of the sub stories is that of Ronnie (Jackie Earle Haley) a convicted pedophile returning to the suburb after a two year incarceration. This is a sad tale of how a man with serious problems is failed by the so called correctional system and is a marked man by everyone around him. His mother, whom he lives with believes him to be a good son and is constantly defending and encouraging him.
The lesser of the stories is that of Larry (Noah Emmerich) whose life has been on a downward slope since leaving the police force. His character is not likeable, yet he makes one of the biggest transformations.
“Little Children” shows us sin up front and never deals with any sort of real salvation. The ending of the movie, to me, was a happy one full of hope. Yet, it is clear that all of the characters needed to recognize their sin and turn to the savior of this world. Ronnie’s mother May told him “you are a miracle;” this is true, but she said it is because he kept going on even though he could die at any time! This would have been the perfect opportunity for the truth—to say that Ronnie is a miracle because he is uniquely made by the creator of the world.
Violence: Mild / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Extreme
See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.
Very Offensive / 5
Very Offensive / 5
Extremely Offensive / 3
Offensive / 4
Frankly, I thought Larry at the film’s end and this reviewer were too kind to Ronnie; it’s good that Larry repented of his unlawful behavior against Ronnie and his mom, but unbeknownst to him, he was right about Ronnie; the film makes it painfully clear that Ronnie was capable of and no doubt had hurt children before (this was not clear at the beginning, since we’re only told at first that Ronnie exposed himself to a minor and not whether he physically hurt a child before).
What was the correctional system supposed to do? Ronnie exposed himself in public and he did his time; how could they have known how sick he really was? He was not a miracle, not anymore, but an abomination and a child predator. His character’s finale was shocking and perfect in its irony.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Very Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 5