Based on the book by Tom Perrotta, “Little Children” is about two recently married couples living in the same community, whose lives become interconnected in dangerous ways. Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson and Jennifer Connely star in Little Children, the latest work from Oscar-nominated writer / director Todd Field. Based on the novel by Tom Perrotta, Little Children centers on a handful of individuals whose lives intersect on the playgrounds, town pools and streets of their small communiyet in surprising and potentially dangerous ways.
About the Story
Sarah Pierce (Kate Winslet) a 30-year-old, stay-at-home mother in a small Massachusetts suburban community. She had been working on a doctorate in English, but once she married Richard (Gregg Edelman) and had their daughter, the presently three-year-old Lucy (Sadie Goldstein), she set aside her research.
Now she spends her days taking Lucy to a local park along with three other stay at-home mothers: the severe and judgmental Mary Ann (Mary B. McCann) and more timid Theresa (Trini Alvarado) and Cheryl (Marsha Dietlein). They enjoy ogling from a distance Brad Adamson (Patrick Wilson), a handsome and well-built father who brings his son, Aaron (Ty Simpkins), to the park. When their children use the same swing set, Sarah and Brad have an opportunity to talk to one another, titillating the other women. But when they, on a lark, hug and kiss, the women immediately take their children out of the park and refuse to associate with Sarah anymore. Both Brad and Sarah have unhappy home lives. Brad has yet to pass the Massachusetts state bar exam and doesn’t even want to be a lawyer.
However, his wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), wants him to succeed. She makes documentaries for public television for a living. They live a bit beyond their means, forcing them to accept financial support from Kathy’s mother. They haven’t been having sex because they are growing apart. When he is supposed to be studying for the bar exam, Brad instead sits and watches teenagers skateboard outside his house, fantasizing about being young and carefree again. One night, an acquaintance, Larry (Noah Emmerich), persuades Brad, who played quarterback on his high school football team, to join his amateur football team, the Guardians.
Larry is a former police officer forced to retire a few years earlier when he accidentally shot a black teenager who was holding a toy gun. Now he is estranged from his wife and spends much of his time harassing Ronnie McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley), a freaky neighbor recently released from prison after serving several years. Ronnie had been incarcerated for exposing himself to a minor and has a long criminal record for sexually molesting young girls. Brad does not feel comfortable with Larry’s campaign against Ronnie to force him to move from the neighborhood, but rarely tries to prevent him from carrying it out.
Sarah’s marriage to Richard is as sexless as Brad’s is to Kathy. In this case, however, it is because he is addicted to Internet pornography. One day she catches him masturbating in his office and they begin to sleep separately. She buys a flattering swimsuit and begins to attend the public pool because she knows she will see Brad there. They begin a deep but platonic relationship and their children become friends. Brad is drawn to Sarah’s interest in him, even though he does not find her particularly physically attractive. Sarah craves being sexually desired by someone as conventionally handsome and masculine as Brad.
When Ronnie is discovered in the pool all of the occupants force their children out of the pool and call the police, who orders Ronnie to get out of the pool and is taken into custody, despite Ronnie’s defense to cool off in the pool. One day, when they have to leave the pool due to a sudden rainstorm, they return to Sarah’s house. Brad discovers a photo of himself tucked away in a collection of Shakespearean sonnets. Unable to contain their desire for each other, they have rough sex in the basement while their children sleep upstairs. Thus their emotional infidelity becomes physical as well.
Meanwhile, Ronnie lives with his mother, May (Phyllis Somerville), who has taken him in after his release from prison. She believes that if he were to find the right woman, his sexual desire for children would disappear. Aware of his mental problems with the fascination for young girls, Ronnie knows this is futile but agrees to go out on a date May has arranged for him with a woman in another town, Sheila (Jane Adams). During dinner at a local restaurant, Ronnie meets Sheila and he quickly reveals his dark past. Sheila does not seem to mind and she tells Ronnie that she has her own emotional demons and they get along well. However, the date ends badly when he has her drive by the neighborhood playground so he can masturbate next to her in the car.
Approach
While Little Children is based on an acclaimed novel, Todd Field and Tom Perrotta wanted to create a film that stood on its own, independent of the book.
“When Todd and I began collaborating on the script, we were hoping to make something new out of the material, rather than simply reproducing the book onto film,” says Perrotta.
“For me, as a novelist, the attraction of a film adaptation lies precisely in this opportunity to re-imagine my book with someone else, and explore new possibilities for the characters and the story. To be able to work with a writer/director as accomplished as Todd was a huge part of the appeal for me, but I understood from the start that what we produced together would no longer be ‘mine’ in any simple sense. There’s really no way for two writers with such distinct voices and sensibilities to come together and not create something very different from what either one of us would have done on his own.”
These production notes provided by New Line Cinema.
Little Children
Starring: Jennifer Connelly, Noah Emmerich, Jackie Earle Haley, Patrick Wilson, Kate Winslet, Gregg Edelman, Sarah Buxton
Directed by: Todd Field
Screenplay by: Todd Field, Tom Perrotta
Release Date: October 6, 2006
MPAA Rating: R for strong sexuality and nudity, language and disturbing content.
Studio: New Line Cinema
Box Office Totals
Domestic: $5,463,019 (36.9%)
Foreign: $9,358,639 (63.1%)
Total: $14,821,658 (Worldwide)