"Little Children" movie?

[indigolilybear]

I am sure there must be a post from people who actually get to watch things in the theater but I searched it and couldn't find anything

Watched it last night....am curious what other people think? AM a huge Kate Winslet fan and loved her in it.

The two stories, I thought that the pedophile thing was a bit unecessary for the story line. AM I missing something?

LOVED the portrayal of being a SAHP though...thought it very accurately and painfully conveyed something about that specific lonliness.

I still feel kind of "in pain" about this movie for lack of a better word. Found it so sad, but really well done I thought.

anyone else see it?

[Kodachrome]

I haven't seen it, but really want to.

Sort of want to read the book first, as I hear it's pretty intense.

[mama ganoush]

i just rented it today, haven't watched it yet. The book was really great though, and I am looking forward to seeing it. It is kind of irritating though-Kate Winslet's character is supposed to be unattractive.

[kaydee]

The interwoven stories worked better in the book than the movie, IMO. In the movie, pulling them together felt a bit forced. Books generally give much more room for complex, layered storytelling, I find.

[indigolilybear]

I didn't realize (or had forgotten) there was a book....I will check it out.

I'd like to see the stories come togehter more smoothly....

TBH, though of course Kate Winslet was still beautiful...they did a good job of making her more of an "everywoman"--it was believable. The man and his wife seemed much more beautiful. She's great though, and I think does embody that quality very well....

[~Shanna~]

We just saw this last night, and......I hated it. Hated it and it gave me nightmares.

I loves me some Kate Winslet, which is why I wanted to see it so badly (that, and the "cameo" by Mothering Magazine!). I wasn't crazy about "In the Bedroom", which the director also did. It just seemed like some many aspects of the movie would have been great on paper, but seems silly or awful on-screen. The voice-over was really cheesy and distracting, and it seemed like it showed that the director didn't really trust the actors - almost anything said in the voice-over could have been communicated otherwise. There were so many moments that were played off as funny that weren't: Sarah finding all of the kleenex in her husbands office, her reaction when she sees Brad's wife.....It felt like they were going for Desperate Housewives-style camp, and it didn't really work. The pacing of the movie was really odd, and there were so many sidestories that felt forced and irrelevent. I couldn't believe that we met the pedophile's mother halfway through the movie. The other suburban SAHMs seemed a little over the top to me, though I did love the part in the movie where they showed "snacktime" at the park . I told DH that I started to get skeptical of the movie right at the begining, when the SAHMs said that having a man at the park made them feel like they had to wear make-up - Do men not realize the women dress for other women, not for men? Does't everyone know this piece of psychology?
The scene with the pedophile in the car with his date......it seriously gave me nightmares, I found it so frightening. I can see that they were trying to comment on how suburban life damages people, but it seemed like they were trying to fit in too much into what should have been a smaller story. And the scene with Sarah's husband on the computer with the undies over his face :Puke .....it just painted such a twisted view of men, it made me feel like I was missing something.

Having said all of that, I did love that the audience could foresee that Sarah was bringing her daughter with her to run away, while Brad wasn't bringing his son.

I'm wondering if I'd like the book better - so many of my problems with it seems unique to a movie script.

[TranscendentalMom]

I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT SPOILER TAGS - PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE..

I saw it and really liked it. I thought it was a little dark but that it captured something. I saw it 2 weeks ago and am still thinking about it. I thought the pedophile storyline blended in ok. I like how at first it was presenting him somewhat empathetically (and also sort of reveals Sarah's naivete, that she thinks people are being unjust to him, do you think?)...then they showed that scene in the car. I think that was to show you the monster that can live inside someone even though they might seem "nice" on the meet and greet level. I think that scene was powerful and captured so many elements. It was meant to be disturbing and it worked.

I love, love Kate Winslet. I thought she was brilliant. It is a BIT of a stretch that she was supposed to be unattractive but they sort of pulled it off.

Things I didn't like...

the voice overs - ditto what Shanna4000 said

the annoying ex-cop character, just wasn't feelin it for him

Kate Winslet's husband and their relationship felt contrived to make the storyline work. The guy was so unappealing you couldn't imagine why on earth any woman would be married to him. Do they explain this in the book?

I also thought they made the SAHMs pretty over the top awful. It was funny for sure but in all my days and the park, I've never met women that bad. Then again, i don't live in a wealthy suburb so....

Spoiler......
Overall, my analysis of the movie was that it was a story about adults "growing up"...Sarah making her daughter a priority, Brad getting over his leftover adolescent like interests (skateboarding & being a football hero), pedophile castrating himself so he wouldn't hurt anyone etc. hence the title Little Children. Do you agree?

If nothing else, there was the guilty pleasure in imagining getting it on with Patrick Wilson while your children napped, eh?

Oh yeah - edited to add - I loved the scene where Brad's wife realizes he & Sarah were having an affair. I don't know why but it captured how sometimes just a tone of voice or gesture can reveal so much.

[MujerMamaMismo]

Originally Posted by TranscendentalMom

I COULDN'T FIGURE OUT SPOILER TAGS - PLEASE DON'T READ IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE MOVIE..
Spoiler......
Overall, my analysis of the movie was that it was a story about adults "growing up"...Sarah making her daughter a priority, Brad getting over his leftover adolescent like interests (skateboarding & being a football hero), pedophile castrating himself so he wouldn't hurt anyone etc. hence the title Little Children. Do you agree?

Yep - that's what I got too.
But I didn't come away from the film feeling confident that these adults were any less 'little children.' I think the film placed too much emphasis on individual disturbing/intense events and didn't put any gravity into the serious evolution that needed to happen for them to grow up. No - not my kind of film - it was too icky and not real enough for me.

[grisandole]

I just saw this last night and liked it overall, except for the ending, which I felt was too "neat" for the movie. Everything just ended so nicely, everyone was redeemed, it seemed pretty contrived. I had no idea this was a book, I want to read it asap.

I love Kate Winslet and I think she was great in this....and so yummy naked, lol.

I actually found the SAHM's at the park believable, I've met some women like that in the past.

[cjanelles]

I just read this book yesterday...all at once.

I'm wondering if I missed something. I don't remember the pedophile castrating himself. For those of you who have read the book and seen the movie, is this a disparity in the stories...you know, the castration making for a better movie?

[~Shanna~]

Originally Posted by MujerMamaMismo

But I didn't come away from the film feeling confident that these adults were any less 'little children.' I think the film placed too much emphasis on individual disturbing/intense events and didn't put any gravity into the serious evolution that needed to happen for them to grow up. No - not my kind of film - it was too icky and not real enough for me.

You hit it on the head for me, MMM. Transendentalmom, you did help remind me that at least Sarah did start to evolve towards being a more responsive parent to Lucy - it broke my heart, the mundane and common ways that she was neglecting her .

And.....I did get to see Kate naked, which is always a treat . Lawdy, she's gorgeous .

[mamatojade]

Originally Posted by Shanna4000

Having said all of that, I did love that the audience could foresee that Sarah was bringing her daughter with her to run away, while Brad wasn't bringing his son.

Interesting, I saw this part in the movie, combined with the boarder dudes handing Brad the letter that he didn't leave for Kathy as Brad rethinking things and going to tell Sarah that he wasn't actually going to run away. He had said something when they first talked about running away together about how well the children got on together, and with him being the SAHP it would have made sense for him to bring his son.

[ericaz]

I read the book a year ago and devoured it. We watched the movie last night and I thought it was pretty awful. The voice-over didn't work, the screenplay wasn't all that fabulous and I thought most of the acting was lame. Big bummer.

[nicole lisa]

Originally Posted by mamatojade

Interesting, I saw this part in the movie, combined with the boarder dudes handing Brad the letter that he didn't leave for Kathy as Brad rethinking things and going to tell Sarah that he wasn't actually going to run away. He had said something when they first talked about running away together about how well the children got on together, and with him being the SAHP it would have made sense for him to bring his son.

:

I didn't think at all that Brad was leaving Kathy. I think at that point he was meeting up with Sarah to let her know it was all a fantasy and something that wasn't going to happen. I think Sarah also realised that.

[benharperfan]

getting in on this thread a bit late but just saw movie last night. read the book months ago, but don't remember the castrating part, i think in the book he actually attacks sara in the park, and ronnie comes in and helps her, i could be remembering it wrong.

the book was far superior to this movie IMO. they left out a lot of depth in ronnie's character, and i think that the narration was, at the least, inneccessary, but also a bit creepy.

i don't know, it is weird, i really liked the book, hated the movie!

[~Shanna~]

Originally Posted by nicole lisa

:

I didn't think at all that Brad was leaving Kathy. I think at that point he was meeting up with Sarah to let her know it was all a fantasy and something that wasn't going to happen. I think Sarah also realised that.

Hmmm...I bet you're right. Still, I can't see it again to reevaluate that part. I'm still having nightmares about that scene in the car.....

[Doodlebugsmom]

Originally Posted by grisandole

I just saw this last night and liked it overall, except for the ending, which I felt was too "neat" for the movie. Everything just ended so nicely, everyone was redeemed, it seemed pretty contrived. I had no idea this was a book, I want to read it asap.

Well, in the book there is some redemption for Richard, Sarah's dh. What happens with him is GREAT!

I thought the narration in the movie was great and gave the movie a campy feel that I just love in a movie.

[Mama2-4]

I loved the book! It was one of those that you can't put down. The movie was alright, but usually is never as good as the book!

[Attila the Honey]

I actually loved the movie, so I will definitely be reading the book.

I have a question about a scene that maybe was explained in more detail in the book:

When KW's character comes back from her time away with the SAHD at first the friend who watched her dd was kind and welcoming and then gradually became very cold and disapproving. Remember that scene? Was there more to it than her just being offended by KW offering her the money?

I thought KW was excellent, I liked the acting and hers in particular. And she definitely pulled off 'plain' as best as she could, let's just say she did a great job at being Hollywood-style unattractive.

I found the movie depressing. I like the idea that it was about these people growing up, but I didn't see it that way. I saw it more as a bunch of miserable people who, for a brief time, dared to dream of something better and then gave up on that dream because they realized the people they would hurt.

It didn't cross my mind that KW's character would go on to be an attached and fulfilled mom, or that there would be any real growth or happiness in the sahd's marriage or that he'd find a career that fulfilled him. I think the movie was about how we harm ourselves to keep from harming others (or, how we harm others to live the life we want to live) and how most of the time there is no real way to find a balance there. The most extreme version of that was, of course, the pedophile -either he does what he wants to fulfill his own 'needs' and hurts a child or he literally maims himself to keep the children safe.

Not that any of this is my personal philosophy in life, I just thought that was what the movie was trying to say. :

[kaydee]

Originally Posted by Attila the Honey

I have a question about a scene that maybe was explained in more detail in the book:

When KW's character comes back from her time away with the SAHD at first the friend who watched her dd was kind and welcoming and then gradually became very cold and disapproving. Remember that scene? Was there more to it than her just being offended by KW offering her the money?

I thought that was when her friend really realized KW was having an affair, and that she was in a sense trying to pay her off for her ... silence? approval?