Brent L

I just watched Little Children, and then started looking up the various cast members on IMDB, and noticed all of this about JEH, and how he hasn't really worked in acting in 15 years. I love stories about actors who move on in life past acting, are out of it for a long time, then just out of nowhere they come back and instantly get nominated and are praised. It's a real feel good story. I also found this interview with JEH, and thought you guys would enjoy watching it. It answers the questions about where he's been, and why, and everything else. He sounds like a really great guy, and makes me want to pull for him that much more:

http://www.woai.com/mediacenter/loca...oId=352722,565

What are some other examples of this type of thing happening to someone? Being out of acting for so long, and then BAM, they're back?

Also, vegasbaby, you nailed this (well deserved) nomination predication, good job. Just like I nailed my prediction about Forest Whitaker in The Last King of Scotland.

Hiro11

He'll always be Moocher to me.

/Punch that clock, Moocher!

OldBoy

and when has this happened before...an obscure actor/ress comes out of nowhere and gets a nod?

pjflyer

Gloria Stuart and Titanic would certainly seem to qualify.

Sparrow

Yes, he was amazing in Little Children. I'm glad that he got the nomination as it was very much deserved for his pivotal scene alone.

Daytripper

Finally saw this movie. I have very mixed feelings about it overall. First, the story was both riveting and disturbing. It was a great script and cast. But the acting felt very amateurish and wooden to me. And I blame the director for this. Which surprises me because I thought he did a great job with "In The Bedroom". That said, what I think could have been a great movie was only mediocre.

Caliking

Maybe it’s that my wife and I are new parents and seeing these children abused, mistreated, etc was too disturbing.

Don’t get me wrong, the direction, acting, etc were fabulous and it was VERY thought provoking. However, when it comes down to it, the story must enjoyable to a degree and there was just too much “uneasy” feeling for me.

I did not think the parallels between the “unhappily” married couples, the cop who killed a kid, and a sexual predator worked very well.

The Ronald James McGorvey character was way too confused. The movie wanted us to think that it was a guy who just exposed himself...Then a guy who could not help how he felt toward younger kids; which he flat out says in the movie when his mom said she wanted him to date girls his age to help control the urges, this really bothered me. Then finally a total sexual predator as the date seen showed. I just could not get over this character and I did not like the message being sent about this character…or maybe I should say the message I was receiving about the character (which may or may not have been the message being sent).

Anyway, the movie was extremely well-made and extremely thought provoking but the messages my wife and I received were just too “wrong” for us to enjoy the movie. Even the big payoff at the end was not enough to redeem every emotion and thought that had come up earlier in the movie.

PS Jennifer Connelly is unbelievably beautiful and Kate is super sexy…just a side note (and dont worry, my wife agreed)

Drop

Caliking, what did you think the message was?

movieking

I love that Jackie Earle Haley got nominated for his role in this. He was fantastic.

Buttmunker

I just finished reading the book, and thought it was a very quick and easy read - the Larry Moon (haha - the only character in the book, aside from Ronald James McGorvey, to have a last name) character having more to do than I initially thought. I just didn't care for the ending of the book (and I'm sure the ending to the movie will be different because they almost always are).

movieking

Can you spoiler the ending of the book?

Buttmunker

conscience

I just finished watching this. It's a film that I will be thinking about over time before I can come to a final say on how I felt. This is a definite positive in regards to the film, though.

But for right now, while I liked the film and it flew by at 2 hours and 10 minutes, I was not completely bowled over by it like I was with Field's other effort (In The Bedroom). I liked the two stories the film told and I get the juxtaposition between the two (mainly the conversation between Ronnie and Sarah) but I feel like the (two) stories would have worked better as two different movies.

I will say though that I was surprised (in a very positive way) that the story did not venture into the obvious.

The novel will be a definite read. I loved, loved, loved Perrotta's style in Election (one of my absolute favorite books - can read it over and over again) and I know the two novels are going to be different in tone but if LC is half as good as Election I will love it.

Also, I thought the pool scene with Ronnie was beyond excellent. Field is such an excellent director.

DVDTalker002

I liked the movie, but I was wanting more. To me it felt like the last act fell apart... I wasn't satisfied with the ending. For a movie as long as this I thought it was dumb for everything to conclude so abruptly. In a way it felt like a let down. I personally don't understand the length. It's not like the multiple sex scenes etc... really gave anymore to the story. I see no reason why this couldn't have been edited down a half an hour...
I would have liked more Jennifer Connelly. She's my 1 fantasy.

The Antipodean

I actually liked this better than In The Bedroom, which I found to be too over the top and melodramatic. There was a nice touch of humour in this which helped alleviate the darkness. Unbearably tense for that final sequence though. Solid A- for me I think, although I'll agree it's not the kind of movie you'd want to watch over and over.

LurkerDan

or from "Breaking Away" a few years later.

I just saw this and was decidedly unimpressed. I liked "In the Bedroom" a lot, but this did nothing for me. I found many of the characters wooden, and I couldn't stand the narration. It seemed like the movie couldn't decide if it wanted to be a tense drama or a sarcastic comedy.

There were some well done scenes, but nothing knit together for a coherent whole, and overall, I felt nothing for any of the characters. (other than the boner for Kate and Jennifer ).

Not bad, but very "meh" as far as I was concerned.
did we see the same movie? certainly they discussed Ronnie's exposing himself, and there was the one creepy scene at the pool, but but there were no children abused, mistreated, etc. Just the suggestion that it had happened before and might happen in the future.

Jack Straw

I watched the movie last night (1st time), and enjoyed it quite a bit. Despite the 2hr 10min runtime, I felt however that the ending was abrupt and unsatisfying. While the movie leads us to conclude that the torrid relationship between sarah and brad would terminate, it would have been nice to see the ending of that relationship play out. Also, since no one else has mentioned it, I was lmao during the scene when [spoiler] sarah walks in on her husband surfing internet porn with the porn model's mail-order panties over his head. I guess that was part of her excuse for seeking an outside relationship. However, brad had none being married to the uber-hottie played by Jennifer Connelly. One curious detail is Brad's complaint that Sarah's eyebrows are thicker than he likes, when Connelly has the thickest eyebrows of any woman around.

islandclaws

So, I just watched Little Children for the first time the other day. Incredibly disturbing, but absolutely fantastic. I thought it played like a much darker version of American Beauty. In fact, I may even prefer this film over that one. Kate Winslet was smoking hot and it was cool to see Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earl Haley in the same film after having seen Watchmen. Haley played such a twisted, sick character. Lots of good, solid supporting players here. I even enjoyed the narration, though it did seem a little unnecessary at times. I really want to pick up a copy but I'm bummed to see it's not on Blu-ray. I'll probably still grab one, though.

I didn't see a thread for this, but surely there are plenty of other fans on here?

SmackDaddy

Thought it was a very good movie with a great performance from Haley. What the heck was he doing between Bad News Bears and this?

I liked that it didn't take the easy way out with any of the situations. Very powerful

FinkPish

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/movie-talk/...ck-review.html

islandclaws

^ Thanks. Knew there had to be one somewhere...

Mods, feel free to merge.

Mr. Cinema

Todd Field has a short directing resume, but this and "In the Bedroom" are both outstanding.

writer106

I also like Todd Field. I thought Little Children was a bit better than In The Bedroom.

AnonomusBob15

Todd Field is one of my favorite American directors after two films. In the Bedroom and Little Children are my favorite films of the year they came out.

TGM

David E is a big fan I hear...