Little Children

Sarah (Kate Winslet) and Brad (Patrick Wilson) look on disbelieving as the menace in their midst goes for a swim in the local pool. They will, subsequently this afternoon, launch an affair which will change the direction of their lives, much like all affairs that take place in movies.

The second film from Todd Field, who made the excellent In the Bedroom and in the process reignited the careers of Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, Little Children is a less intense but equally powerful exploration of adult behaviour. It's no secret that the title refers not to the literal children in the film (who are the catalysts rather than the focus of the action) but in fact the parents who float through the story like directionless waifs. There is Sarah (Kate Winslet) married to the hard-working but Internet-porn-addicted Richard, whose young daughter Lucy accompanies her during long days in the local playground. There she meets 'Prom King' Brad (Patrick Wilson), whose marriage to Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) is on the rocks because of his lack of ambition to pass the bar exam. After an innocent dare in the playground, Brad and Sarah bond and eventually launch a torrid affair while their children take their daily naps and their spouses earn the money to keep them in their middle-class lifestyles. Into this mix is thrown Ronnie (Jackie Earle Haley), a released con who did time for indecent exposure, and becomes the focus of a neighbourhood witch hunt led by Larry (Noah Emmerich). The plot, such as it is, is driven forward by the interactions between these and the married couples, but really the film is a series of excellently executed set pieces, from a Jaws-esque pool scene which becomes hilarious in its believability to an overly overt book club meeting where Sarah defends the misogynist Madame Bovary. These are linked by the presence of a very literary and slightly arch narration which often provides commentary (and superfluous irony).

The lack of plot development harms the film in the end because, like Stranger than Fiction, it does an about-face at the close which undercuts much of what came before. In film that runs to over two hours, it is unfortunate that the ending happens too quickly and we don't quite get enough finality at the end - and don't get me wrong, I'm all for elusiveness, but this just feels truncated. As well, there is a sneaking suspicion that except for one or two moments, it is two films in an uncomfortable marriage, that could have been superior had different parts of each prevailed. For example, in the adultery tale, Kathy is making a documentary about Iraq that feels like a cheap political point as it remains unexplored, when it could have been quite interesting, and the truly moving relationship between Ronnie and his mother (Phyllis Somerville) deserves more space. A note that she leaves for him at one point has a certain spare beauty to it that could go unappreciated given it is rushed through. That said, all of the actors bring a tremendous authenticity to their roles (Haley particularly in the climatic scene) even if Kate Winslet can't 'act' dowdy, and those who seem vacuous do very well. The script is very good in the individual scenes, despite failing to stitch the constituent parts together. It also has a great ironic humour in parts: but one of the "Family Guy" style cutaways is a step too bizarre.

Overall, the quality of the acting elevates this film above the tawdry soap opera it has the potential to be ("Desperate Housewives" on the East Coast it ain't) and it is watchable and enjoyable for its entire length. As said earlier, it is unfortunate that the structural problems get the better of what could have been more moving and piercing than it eventually is. And since when did anyone end a film without at least finishing off the primary storyline!? A re-edit could turn Little Children into a film of the calibre of Field's previous effort, but it remains an achievement in storytelling about adults and the steamy side of suburbia.

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