I SAW IT: Little Children

What an interesting movie. I had never heard of it until recently even though it came out in 2006. So I ZIP'd it and watched it this past weekend and was not disappointed with my choice.

It stars Kate Winslet (like), Jennifer Connelly (dislike), and Patrick Wilson (like). It's a pretty complicated story-line, filled with characters who lives connect without you expecting it.

I stole this summary off of IMDB.
Please read below:

"Living in an upper middle class family-oriented suburb, Sarah and Richard Pierce, who have an infant daughter Lucy, have a dysfunctional marriage. Sarah is already seen as a bit of an outsider amongst the "park mothers", so news of the Pierce's dysfunctional marriage would drive a further wedge between Sarah and the rest of the mothers, who espouse the "white picket fence/2.4 children" mentality. Into the park comes househusband Brad Adamson and his infant son Aaron. Not knowing who he is or his story, the park mothers coin him "The Prom King" because of his preppy good looks. They collectively have a "look but don't touch" mentality toward Brad. Brad is struggling to find his place in life, having already failed the bar exam twice and avoiding his third attempt. He continually is looking for connections to his youth, when his life held so much promise. As such, he too is in a unsatisfying marriage to his beautiful and driven wife, Kathy, the household breadwinner. By chance, Sarah and Brad get to know each other, and are attracted to each other if only in their search for that something missing in their lives. The question becomes what they are to do with their feelings. In the meantime, sex offender Ronnie McGorvey, who was convicted for exposing himself to a child, moves into the neighborhood into the home of his mother, upon whom he has a pseudo-Oedipus complex. Ex-police officer Larry Hedges, an acquaintance of Brad's, takes it upon himself as his primary goal in life to rid the "perfect" family neighborhood of this scourge."

The cinematography was outstanding, as was Kate Winslet's performance. It reminded me a bit of A Single Man, directed by Tom Ford, which was also a beautiful movie cinematically (although not my cup of tea storyline-wise.)

If you get an extra 2.5 hrs, I highly recommmend watching this film. We always say that people aren't who you think they are, but this film convinced me that people really are exactly what we think.

4/5 stars