Little Men

"The neighborhoods changing." Brian Jardine (Kinnear) is a struggling actor who has just lost his father. He heads to Brooklyn for the funeral and to deal with his fathers estate. He discovers that a small business was costing his father money, and is unable to continue the same deal. This causes tension with him and the owner of the business, which is further enhanced by the fact that Brian's son and the son of the owner are best friends. This is a really good movie that makes you think. You really struggle to decide who is in the right and can see both sides equally. The dynamic of the adults and the kids relationships are really fleshed out and are the true heart of the movie. That said, the movie could have been really good but it stayed a little monotone and the end just kind of happened. When you watch this you will see what I mean. Overall, the acting and writing are good, but it felt a little flat at some parts and really just came to an abrupt end, which hurt the movie a little bit. I disappointingly give this a B-.

"Little Men" is a film I just saw at a film festival. While I have nothing against the movie, I did find that it left me feeling a bit flat...like the film just didn't quite hit the mark. The ending certainly contributes to this feeling.

When the film begins, a family moves to Brooklyn from their home in Manhatten. This is because the grandfather has died and they've decided to move into Grandpa's home. The son, Jake, is a loner who loves to draw and you assume this move will be tough on him. However, their downstairs renter has a son, Tony and the boys soon become best buddies. But when a rent dispute occurs between Jake and Tony's family the story comes unraveled and just ends.

The picture has some nice things going for it...such as Michael Barbieri's nice performance as Tony. But the ending left me and some others in the audience a bit disappointed as the resolution just seemed flat.

Had this movie been more about the boys and less about the hard-to-like adults, it could have been something pure, fresh, exciting. Unfortunately, it turns out to be nothing but a constant skidding into the margins of a plot that never gets past the original idea.

Was this filmed with the sole purpose of indulging the viewer with a superbly shot, colorful urban reality? It gains ground there. Maybe we were supposed to pour out our emotional responses on account of Greg Kinnear's, admittedly very talented, ever-downcast writhing eyebrows? Because that would be another minor win for Little Men.

Alas, I don't think either of those points carry any sort of validity so, all in all, it all wraps up into a sad 'no'.

There are three main types of movies, good ones, bad ones and ones that are overlooked by the public. Yes, it is not a masterpiece and has flaws, but still I enjoyed watching this and I was shocked to see the IMDb rating and the box office result. Though independent movies like this don't make much back it still should of made it's 2 million budget. The performance were almost all good, with the exception of a few, it was well paced so I could truly experience the chemistry growth between the two children who come from two entirely different backgrounds.

To conclude it is an underrated movie that brings out a range of emotions, but yes it is not perfect.

I feel like this film was kind of marketed as a comedy, and perhaps that's why the seriousness of the situation at the core of the film really surprised me. It's not that the film is a tragedy, but instead it takes an honest and very real look at these kinds of situations. It's a very carefully and deliberately paced film, and the director has a great handle of the film's tone and atmosphere and is able to really bring the dramatic beats of the story to life. The ensemble cast also seems to have a great handle on the material, never overplaying or underplaying the situation to become unbelievable or become a melodrama. I definitely recommend this and I think it really gives a fascinating portrayal of family and the bonds that exist and how real life can get in the middle of that.