Monday, November 27, 2006
Novel Intelligence
I know, seems like I'm saying every movie I saw over the weekend is the best movie of the year (Not! I'll trash 'For Your Consideration' very shortly) - but, 'tis the season. Must say, though, that 'Little Children' bowled me over in a very different way than the grand scope and global themes of the brilliant 'Babel,' by instead offering the very cinematic equivalent of a very intelligent and gripping novel. This is all the more heaven-sent in that printed fiction, alas, is not a pleasure I can indulge at length. Todd Field's new film, a quantum leap from the much-admired if spare 'In the Bedroom,' offers a full plate of plot, illustrating why a novel often makes a better movie than a short story (but not always; think Brokeback Mountain). Set deep in affluent suburbia, the film follows the budding relationship of two intelligent adults (pictured left)who've found themselves in unfulfilling marriages and playing full-time parent for lack of a career - Kate Winslet in yet another indelible role and theater-singer-actor-hunk Patrick Wilson further stretching his range (he starred 'Full Monty' on Broadway and was the closeted Mormon guy in the 'Angels of America' film). Jennifer Connelly also looks very new as Wilson's distant wife. In the background the neighborhood is deeply disturbed by a sex offender that's moved in with his mother upon completing his prison term, posing the fine line between protecting children and persecuting reformed convicts - no easy conclusions are reached, or should be.this entry's permalink
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