Little Children

Name: Little Children
Genre: Drama, Romance
Released: October 6, 2006
Duration: 136 min
Rating: 75
Cast: Jackie Earle Haley, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson

2006

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 34 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 197 Ratings

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7.4

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7.4	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 197 Ratings

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Little Children

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Movie Details & Credits

New Line Cinema | Release Date: October 6, 2006 | R

Starring: Jackie Earle Haley, Jennifer Connelly, Kate Winslet, Patrick Wilson

Summary: 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 community in surprising and potentially dangerous ways. [New Line Cinema]

Director: Todd Field

Genre(s): Drama, Romance

Rating: R

Runtime: 136 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Carina Chocano

The movie is one of the few films I can think of that examines the baffling combination of smugness, self-abnegation, ceremonial deference and status anxiety that characterizes middle-class Gen X parenting, and find sheer, white-knuckled terror at its core. Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

A jolting, artfully made drama set in and around a suburban playground somewhere between "American Beauty" and "In the Bedroom" on America's psychic highway. Read full review

A.O. Scott

The result is a movie that is challenging, accessible and hard to stop thinking about...But in too many recent movies intelligence is woefully undervalued, and it is this quality -- even more than its considerable beauty -- that distinguishes Little Children from its peers. Read full review

J.R. Jones

The characters are drawn with such compassion their follies become our own and their desires seem as vast as the night sky. Read full review

Wesley Morris

What Little Children understands so well, and so poignantly, is a kind of parental existentialism that hits 30- somethings with kids: How does having children make you such a less interesting adult? Read full review

Marc Savlov

It's Winslet who is the heart and soul of Little Children, and when she makes a desperate, final bid to reclaim her soul, it's both horrifying and heart-rending. Read full review

Andrew O'Hehir

It's an unholy mess, simultaneously too Gothic and too sarcastic, that preaches liberation and delivers only puritanism. It's a craftsmanlike but robotic imitation of "interesting" filmmaking, only in patches, and by accident, the real thing. Read full review

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User Reviews

SilasP.

Nov 3, 2006

Oh, brother; a couple of the posters here seem to have big, fat chips on their shoulders. This is a gripping, haunting film, exquisitely written, filmed, and performed. It is a fairy tale for adults, with a profound, existential moral. Field, Perrotta, and the actors do a virtuoso job of Oh, brother; a couple of the posters here seem to have big, fat chips on their shoulders. This is a gripping, haunting film, exquisitely written, filmed, and performed. It is a fairy tale for adults, with a profound, existential moral. Field, Perrotta, and the actors do a virtuoso job of making these characters sympathetic, hateful, complex - in a word, human.… Expand

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J.R.

Dec 18, 2006

This is one of my favorite films of all time. Subversive, funny, and full of almost unbearable heart-break.

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DogeGamer2015

Oct 18, 2020

Excelentes interpretaciones, buena trama y al final da mucho para reflexionar.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

MHS

Oct 22, 2006

9.5 (football scenes weak) otherwise a brilliant, deeply moving film. As with all great films it stays with you long after the experience of watching it. I have not seen In the bedroom but will so soon as I am in awe of Mr. Field work here.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Sam

Mar 19, 2007

Great performances and a steady pace overshadows the long running time. Overall, this was just an outstanding, and emotionally moving movie.

0 of 0 users found this helpful

Rachel

May 16, 2007

The narration set the tone - that of a documentary about animals in the wild. Of course, suburbia may not seem very wild (on the surface), but this film shows the most animalistic moments of human life. (Pool scene cheaply reminiscent of Jaws.)

0 of 0 users found this helpful

MichaelDN

Dec 21, 2012

The subplots are unbelievably generic, and not even done in an original way. Jackie Earle Haley's plotline is the most interesting, but as the movie progresses, it becomes sympathetic to the pedophile, and the movie's overall message seems to be about acceptance, even for someone like that.The subplots are unbelievably generic, and not even done in an original way. Jackie Earle Haley's plotline is the most interesting, but as the movie progresses, it becomes sympathetic to the pedophile, and the movie's overall message seems to be about acceptance, even for someone like that. Apart from that, the acting is very overrated, even from Kate Winslet, who I usually love. Normally, I would just think this is an ordinary, annoyingly generic movie, worthy of maybe a three or a four. However, the idea of the pedophile being portrayed as a sympathetic character, and that those who deride him are considered villains, cause this movie to be an easy zero for me.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

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61	#61 Best Movie of 2006
66	#66 Most Discussed Movie of 2006
29	#29 Most Shared Movie of 2006