Fresh
Little Children is disturbing and smart and the best satire of modern American suburbia since American Beauty.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Overview
The lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.
Director and cast
- Todd Field Director
- Kate Winslet as Sarah Pierce
- Patrick Wilson as Brad Adamson
- Jennifer Connelly as Kathy Adamson
- Gregg Edelman as Richard Pierce
- Sadie Goldstein as Lucy Pierce
- Ty Simpkins as Aaron Adamson
- Noah Emmerich as Larry Hedges
- Jackie Earle Haley as Ronnie J. McGorvey
- Phyllis Somerville as May McGorvey
- Helen Carey as Jean
Critics on Rotten Tomatoes
Top critics, in their words
81%
Tomatometer
Fresh
Well-acted and meticulously crafted, Little Children can feel less like a full-blooded representation of life than a disquieting literary exercise.
Robert Denerstein, Denver Rocky Mountain News
Rotten
I didn't like any of these characters, but I kept pulling for them anyway -- right up to the shock-o-riffic ending, when I felt I'd been sucker-punched.
Jim Emerson, Chicago Sun-Times
Fresh
As in Field's first film, the characters are drawn with such compassion their follies become our own and their desires seem as vast as the night sky.
J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader
Fresh
Little Children includes all the cliched scenarios of a midday TV sudser, but they're ratcheted up several seedy degrees.
Kathy Cano Murillo, Arizona Republic
More films
American Beauty (1999)
Drama · R
Lester Burnham, a depressed suburban father in a mid-life crisis, decides to turn his hectic life around after developing an infatuation with his daughter's attractive friend.
- Runtime
- 2h 2m
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Cast
- Kevin Spacey, Annette Bening, Thora Birch
IMDb
8.3
Rotten Tomatoes
87%
Metacritic
84
Unfaithful (2002)
Drama · Romance · Thriller · R
Connie is a wife and mother whose 11-year marriage to Edward has lost its sexual spark. When Connie literally runs into handsome book collector Paul, he sweeps her into an all-consuming affair. But Edward soon becomes suspicious and decides to confront the other man.
- Runtime
- 2h 4m
- Director
- Adrian Lyne
- Cast
- Diane Lane, Richard Gere, Olivier Martinez
IMDb
6.7
Rotten Tomatoes
50%
Metacritic
63
Closer (2004)
Drama · Romance · R
The relationships of two couples become complicated and deceitful when the man from one couple meets the woman of the other.
- Runtime
- 1h 44m
- Director
- Mike Nichols
- Cast
- Jude Law, Julia Roberts, Natalie Portman
IMDb
7.1
Rotten Tomatoes
67%
Metacritic
65
Revolutionary Road (2008)
Drama · Romance · R
A young couple living in a Connecticut suburb during the mid-1950s struggle to come to terms with their personal problems while trying to raise their two children. Based on a novel by Richard Yates.
- Runtime
- 1h 59m
- Director
- Sam Mendes
- Cast
- Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Michael Shannon
IMDb
7.3
Rotten Tomatoes
67%
Metacritic
69
Happiness (1998)
Comedy · Drama · NC-17
The lives of several individuals intertwine as they go about their lives in their own unique ways, engaging in acts which society as a whole might find disturbing in a desperate search for human connection.
- Runtime
- 2h 20m
- Director
- Todd Solondz
- Cast
- Jane Adams, Jon Lovitz, Philip Seymour Hoffman
IMDb
7.7
Rotten Tomatoes
82%
Metacritic
81
Comments
Talk about the film with other members