Little Children

"Die Menschen probieren neue Dinge aus, um sich selbst zu beweisen, dass sie noch am Leben sind und sich wie kleine Kinder verhalten können. Ein wirklich gut gemachter Film mit einer starken Geschichte und tollen Charakteren. Kate Winslet ist großartig wie immer und Jackie Earle Haley - die Pädophilie sprudelt aus ihm heraus und die Szene mit ihm am Ende - wow. Das ist einer dieser Filme, die mir einfach nicht aus dem Kopf gehen, und das ist auch gut so. Ich dachte eigentlich an 4*, aber ich füge noch einen Stern hinzu, weil es ein außergewöhnlicher Film ist. (29.12.2009)

Honestly, as a man, I envy the main male protagonist for his dilemma of choosing between the wife portrayed by Jennifer Connelly and the interesting mother from the neighborhood, Kate Winslet. Yeah, those are some serious worries. This relationship drama is sympathetically placed between comedic and tragic elements and fulfills the function of a romantic relationship drama with several interesting characters and well-observed scenes from life. It's not a film that is at the top of its genre or one that a person would think about for a long time in a significant way, but it works very well emotionally. Overall impression: 75%. (19.05.2012)

At first, not a particularly distinctive drama from the world of an idyllic American street at the edge of a large city. Everyone here lives their lives with some skeletons hidden in their closet. And those who do not hide them will happily create them during this film. The most interesting character from the whole film is definitely the sick pervert without whom this film would not even exist. The first ‘getting to know’ half is really worth three stars, but in the second half there’s a relatively well-built tension not only between the unfaithful ones. Overall, this film gets a second wind and flows with it until the very end. It’s not a simple movie due to the length itself, but in the end, I’m glad I saw it. (16.10.2015)

A near-perfect relationship drama, which stands above all on an excellent script, full of fresh and unexpected situations that unexpectedly build up in the end. The character of the sexual deviant Ronnie initially felt too forcefully shoehorned into the story, but in the end his fate became the most emotional element of the entire narrative, with one chilling moment at the end that made my blood run cold. In this context, I can't help but berate the Oscar academics for preferring Arkin's embarrassing grandfather in Little Miss Sunshine to Jackie Haley's impressive performance. The fact that, in the case of the two main characters, Field's conclusion doesn't try to make their relationship sound as fatal as possible is something I applaud. It is not always necessary to push too hard to evoke intense emotions. And for the first time ever, I must also highlight the brilliant trailer, which is such a small work of art thanks to the use of an unconventional minimalist soundtrack of an arriving train, perfectly matched with the editing of the shots (and thanks to it I was eagerly awaiting Little Children, despite the fact that I always take trailers with a grain of salt). (23.05.2007)

A somewhat sterile love drama in places, where at times it seems that the world has more weirdos than normal, rational-minded individuals. Some situations are quite adequately depicted, others not so much. The sometimes deaf moments and the relatively slow and uninteresting pace are topped off by a strong conclusion, which is both brilliantly scripted and appropriately chilling. Still, I didn't find Little Children as compact and entertaining as other, thematically related films. (18.12.2022)