Little Children

Recently I caught the film Little Children, an adaptation of the book of the same name by Tom Perrotta. It is an above average adaptation that translates very well from book to film. The film was nominated for Best Actress by Kate Winslett and Best Supporting Actor by Jackie Earle Haley including Best Adapted Screenplay by Perrotta. It revolves around a community of imperfect characters in a suburban town full of neighborhood hypocrisy and deeply rooted personal issues. It's a drama with a tinge of dark humor centering over characters that are self destructive in their own ways, some more so than others. The story is very much about human behavior and urge. Little Children is filled with fine character performances that keep a well balanced pace throughout the film until the chilling climax.

The most interesting and unsettling performance is by former 70's child star Jackie Earle Haley. The actor's own story is interesting. He is previously best known for his role as a foul mouth, chain smoking, motor-bike riding kid from The Bad News Bears. He also starred in one of my favorite coming of age films, Breaking Away. Up until a few years ago he was delivering pizza. Haley struggled getting acting roles for years until finally moving on. After 13 years, he returned to acting, landing a role in All the Kings Men which led to his critically acclaimed and Oscar nominated role in Little Children. In Little Children, he plays a formerly incarcerated pedophile struggling to ignore the stigma of his unforgivable actions. There are points in the movie in which you feel an odd sympathy for Haley's character because of the hatred strangers give him which is also felt but soon enough you realize completely how serious his internal problems really are. Haley succeeds in making his film counterpart far creepier than in the book. I was pleased with how his character was integral to the plot and how he was used to connect all of the other character's stories together. Very well done.

I highly recommend both the film and the book by Tom Perrotta. I actually met Perotta once when he visited my high school to give a lecture. This was when his only book was a selection of short stories called Bad Haircut before his first well known novel Election, which incidentally was adapted into a widely popular film starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon. Perrotta is one of my favorite contemporary writers and is a master at weaving multiple narratives in his books. The book is excellent. After you are done with it, watch the film!