Little Children

Kate Winslet and Jennifer Connelly

Let's get one thing out of the way: this movie seemed to try to state that Jennifer Connelly is the epitome of beauty and that Kate Winslet was actually ugly. That aspect in itself put this squarely in the realm of fantasy, because Ms. Winslet is far more attractive than Ms Connelly, and Ms Connelly is drop-dead gorgeous.

Secondly, Jackie Earl Haley's portrayal of the just-out-of-prison sexual predator was extremely well-done, but I got the sense that the role itself was written a little blandly. But he certainly seemed to act it to its greatest effect.

Overall, the impression that I really got from this movie is that it should be mixed with American Beauty.

Yes, you read me right. Little Children and American Beauty should be mixed together. Both are about the dark hidden corners of suburban America, and LC could use some of AB's dark humour, and AB would not have been so fantasy-like if it had some of LC's more bland depiction of the community.