Little Children
Days ago I headed out in the rain to either see Good Shepherd or Little Children. When I saw that Good Shepherd was 2 hours and friggin 40 minutes or whatever I knew there was no way that movie was going to earn that length. So it was Little Children. I know it's been out for a while but I knew pretty much nothing about it going in. On the way to the theater, I picked up twizz and a water-- and stupidly broke down and bought myself a small popcorn ($4 FU) when I got there. I ate only like a third of it too because it tasted vaguely of seaweed and that odd taste was easily flipped in my brain to vaguely urine flavor and once that took hold that was that for the popcorn. Done and done. I ate only half the twizz too. I think maybe because a friend of mine is now obsessed with being anti-high-fructose corn syrup and lectured me on how twizzlers are loaded with high-fructose corn syrup and now I think I can taste the high-fructose corn syrup even though I don't even know what high-fructose corn syrup is.
Anyway, everything about this movie is good. The acting was pretty solid across the board (although I suspect Kate Winsloot makes everyone else look better than they are), director-wise it was interesting and fun and it had a totally detached left field narrator which I loved. Every main character kept a high level of interest for me. Sometimes in character clutter movies there's usually a weak link but every time this flick shifted gears to someone else I was right there with it. Like a good novel when you turn to the next chapter and it picks up where you left off pages back and you're excited because you're in tune and remember all the names. To make a long story short this movie takes place in the snoozy suburbs with two totally bored and dissatisfied people and two totally messed up people. Yadda they have their families around them etc etc. Whatever I'm not going to get into this movie because it really should be seen cold. It's more fun that way.
I guess what I liked most about this movie was it just decided to not bother to try too hard or force drama. It left it up to you to inject your own emotions which is really sort of rare. Big moments were little subtle things sometimes. Yadda there's a undertaste of familiar cheese to it all but it didn't bother me all that much. And because of the slow-ish pace now and then I got hit with a hard left of 'borrrrinnggg' but those slaps were really short lived and I was able to shake it off pretty fast. I guess the best thing about this movie was how it just immersed me in it. Like sometimes you watch some drama stuff and it's just thrown up there on the screen as entertainment. But it never is anything but a movie. This flick seemed to pour down off the screen, up the aisles, and before I knew it-- it was behind me breathing on my neck and sitting next to me putting one creepy hand on my knee asking me if I was enjoying myself. I nodded away like a good movie monkey never letting my eyes leave the screen for a second.
Three Good Things About this Movie
- I really like the Winsloot. There was something about this time round made me
think she might be the best right now. (plus she shows her boobs)
- It never let go of the 'something is about to happen' feeling.
- When the pervy guy pervs out it's like pervection.
Three Bad Things About this Movie
- There was something intellectually smug about it.
- During the ending I kind of felt the movie shaking like it might fall apart.
- I wasn't crazy about the lead prom king guy. He was a little stiff or
something.
All in all I think this was one of the best movies of the year (slow year). It sort of reminded me of a fancy Todd Solodunze thing if he went left instead of right. It also reminded me of American Beauty. But American Beauty sorta has crossed over into unwatchableland for me- mainly because it now plays like a hollywood drama theme park ride. This flick decided to pass by the flashy drama theme park crap and simply take the scenic route for entertainment... which I dug.