Line #29 Film/LittleChildren


1	[[quoteright:345:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3e127b2a6d7657bd886f2cdc610bf08d.jpg]]
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3	''Little Children'' is a 2006 American drama film directed by Creator/ToddField. It is [[TheFilmOfTheBook based on]] the 2004 novel of the same name by Creator/TomPerrotta, who along with Field wrote the screenplay. It stars Creator/KateWinslet, Creator/PatrickWilson, Creator/JenniferConnelly, Creator/JackieEarleHaley, Creator/NoahEmmerich, Gregg Edelman, Phyllis Somerville, and Will Lyman.
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5	In suburban Boston, the lives of two lovelorn spouses from separate marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced ex-police officer intersect as they struggle to resist their various vulnerabilities and temptations.
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7	The film earned UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nominations for Best Actress (Winslet), Best Supporting Actor (Haley), and Best Adapted Screenplay. Music/ThomasNewman composed the music score.
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10	!! This film provides examples of:
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12	* AccidentalChildKillerBackstory: As in the novel, Larry is a TroubledSympatheticBigot who was forced out of the police and hunts down the child molester Ronnie as a result. It turns out that Larry was fired after shooting and killing a child after mistaking his toy pistol for a real gun.
13	* AdaptationalAttractiveness: Sarah is described as plain in the novel, but is portrayed by Kate Winslet. This causes the HollywoodHomely trope in the film as Sarah is still angsting over her perceived inferiority to her lover's stunningly attractive wife.
14	* AdaptationalHeroism: ''Very'' downplayed. In the novel, [[spoiler: Ronnie kills a girl after his mother's death. In the film he directs his pain inward, castrating himself]].
15	* TheAtoner: Larry, for [[spoiler:shooting a kid by accident.]]
16	* DeadpanSnarker: Sarah, mostly.
17	* DysfunctionJunction: Everybody has their own problems and secret motivations.
18	** Sarah is stagnating in a loveless marriage and has difficulties connecting to her own daughter.
19	** Brad is miserable in a sexless marriage and desires to recapture his youth.
20	** Ronald is a sex offender struggling with his urges whilst being harassed and vilified by the neighborhood.
21	** Larry is trying to make up for a mistake in his past by obsessing on a clear-cut 'villain'.
22	** Mae is devoting all her time to her son and trying to keep a leash on him.
23	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Ronald James [=McGorvey=], who loves his mother and whose mother loves him even though he's a pedophile.
24	* {{Fanservice}}: The sex scenes between Sarah and Brad especially since they're played by Kate Winslet (herself a MsFanservice) and Patrick Wilson (a MrFanservice).
25	* GoodAdulteryBadAdultery: Sarah does not love her husband, but only cheats after discovering his obsession with a porn star. Brad does it as an escape from feeling neglected by his controlling workaholic wife and underappreciated as a parent. The one who has his affair portrayed negatively is Richard, who starts obsessing over Slutty Kay.
26	* GoryDiscretionShot: When [[spoiler:Ronnie castrates himself.]]
27	* {{Foreshadowing}}: Early on, [[AlphaBitch Mary Ann]] and [[KnightTemplar Larry]] both suggest that Ronnie be castrated. [[spoiler: He does it himself at the end and a horrified Larry has to drive him to the hospital]].
28	* GroinAttack: [[spoiler:At the end, Ronnie castrates himself.]]
29	* GreyAndGreyMorality: Oh so much....
30	* JumpOffTheSlipperySlope: Ronnie agrees to go on a date with a woman his age and try to leave his pedophilic urges behind. Then he has his date drive next to the playground so he can masturbate to the sight of the swings, and threatens to kill her if she tells anyone.
31	* MadonnaWhoreComplex: Discussed in the Book Club scene where the members read Literature/MadameBovary and [[SlutShaming Mary Ann sees the titular character as a slut]], the other book club members try to take a more neutral approach when they weren't confused about the sex acts described, and Sarah takes a more "diplomatic" approach (trying to justify herself) suggesting that the main character was trying to take control of her life.
32	* MakingLoveInAllTheWrongPlaces: Sarah and Brad first have sex on a countertop in a basement.
33	* MamaDidntRaiseNoCriminal: Downplayed. Mae is very much aware that her son is a pedophile, but she does her best to get him to change and won't have random vigilantes harass him because of his past crimes.
34	* NoEnding: [[spoiler:Brad injures himself in a vain attempt to feel young, Ronnie castrates himself and all the other plotlines are unresolved.]]
35	* ObnoxiousEntitledHousewife: Mary Ann, she is a judgemental housewife who prides herself on appearing to be a perfect mother and shames other moms when they don't match up to her standards. In the Lit Club scene, she goes so far as to slut shame Madame Bovary (really Sarah) and she even engages in harassing Brad.
36	* OneDialogueTwoConversations: To everyone else in the lit club it seems as if Sarah and Mary Ann discuss whether Madame Bovary's affairs could be considered a feminist act. In reality, Mary Ann is slut-shaming Sarah who defends her pursuit of happiness in her relationship with Brad.
37	* SchlubbyScummySecurityGuard: In both the book and the film, Larry is a security guard who was thrown out of the police for shooting an unarmed black teenager with a toy gun. He struggles with PTSD and rage following the killing, and fixates on Ronnie to take his anger and feelings of impotence out on someone else.
38	* SexlessMarriage: Brad and Kathy, Sarah and Richard.
39	* ShutUpHannibal: [[MamaBear Mrs. McGorvey]] to Larry about how her son wouldn't gun down a child like he did.
40	* StepfordSmiler: Many of the characters, to hide their own misery.
41	* StepfordSuburbia: The film's setting.
42	* TraumaSwing: Ronnie does this at the end.
43	* WallBangHer: Brad and Sarah.

Context Film / LittleChildren