Little Children, 2006

Ugh... a waste of Kate Winslet's talents. She's amazing in this movie, but unfortunately, the movie is very hard to like. There isn't a single character to sympathize with (the closest thing to a likable character is a creepy conviceted sex offender!), the story leaves many characters undeveloped and unresolved, there are some bizarre choices by the director in terms of dramatic devices... In addition, the film (at least as was shown at Telluride Film Festival) is about 30 minutes too long. The most annoying of those dramatic (comedic?) devices is the narrator. Yes, a narrator, who comes on to explain character motivations that are all typically obvious or would be with better writing. It just doesn't work for me... it's definitely an attempt at some sort of comedic device, but it doesn't work. It just feels condescending. It's not even consistent - the narrator is there for the first 30 minutes, then gone for a while, then comes back near the end. It completely takes you out of the movie in a jarring way. At the end (don't worry, no spoiler), the narrator actually tells you the completely obvious moral of the story. It felt so condescending... like the director wanted to make sure that us dumb viewers got the point, so he actually reads it to you. UGH, give me a break. And the worst scene is what seems like a hastily added book club scene that doesn't even fit with the story, but is there just to let the characters discuss a book to point out to the viewer that this movie is also about that same story! Puh-lease... it would have been like having the characters in West Side Story start singing "this is just like Romeo & Juliet, don't you get that you dumb audience!" Bad story, bad filmmaking, some serious editing needed... it can't be saved by some great acting.

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