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Little Children (film)

2006 film directed by Todd Field

Little Children is a 2006 film about the lives of two lovelorn spouses from different marriages, a registered sex offender, and a disgraced former policeman that intersect as they struggle to resist their vulnerabilities and temptations.

Directed by Todd Field. Wtitten by Todd Field and Tom Perrotta.
Judgment is coming.

Narrator

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  • Smiling politely to mask a familiar feeling of desperation Sarah reminded herself to think like an anthropologist. She was a researcher studying the behavior of typical suburban women.
  • Sarah didn't really know why they even bothered coming here, except that she'd probably go crazy trapped in the house all day with this unknowable little person.
  • The jester's cap was something that truly disturbed Brad. All day long the boy ate, played and napped in it. But the moment his mother stepped in the house he had no more use for it. As if the entire day up to that point had been a pointless and somewhat useless charade.
  • Sarah was shocked by how Brad delivered this confession, with no apparent sense of being in the least bit embarrassed by his failure. Most men weren't like this. Her husband Richard certainly wasn't. She wondered if Brad was always this forthcoming. If anything, he seemed a little lonely, all too ready to open his heart at the slightest sign of interest, like a lot of young mothers she knew.
  • It was then while watching Brad kneel down at his son's feet that Sarah found herself gripped by an unexpected pang of sadness. "Don't go," she thought. "Don't leave me here with the others."
  • Brad showered quickly, sensing a rare opportunity to have sex with his wife.
  • Lately Slutty Kay had become a problem. He thought about her far too often, and spent hours studying the thousands of photographs available to him. Some of Kay's practices struck him as bizarre, even off-putting. She had a thing about kitchen utensils, spatulas, and dressing up like a little girl and playing with balloons. But who was Richard to judge?
  • In his wildest dreams Larry would never have imagined he'd once again be in this position, where precious minutes count. Tonight he could save a life. He knew Ronnie had done some bad things in the past, but so had Larry. You couldn't change the past. But the future could be a different story. And it had to start somewhere.

May McGorvey

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  • You're a miracle, Ronnie. We're all miracles. You know why? Because as humans, everyday we go about our business, and all that time we know, we all know that the things we love, the people we love... at any time, it can all be taken away. We live knowing that and we keep going anyway. Animals don't do that.

Dialogue

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Mary Ann: He should just be castrated. Just snip, quick and easy.
Sarah Pierce: [sarcastically] You know what else you should do? Nail his penis above the entrance to the elementary school. That'd really teach him a lesson.
Brad Adamson: Go ahead and ask.
Sarah Pierce: What?
Brad Adamson: You know, what the person who wears the pants in the family does for a living.
Sarah Pierce: You know what they call you?
Brad Adamson: What?
Sarah Pierce: The prom king.
Brad Adamson: Oh God, really?
Sarah Pierce: Yeah, they mean it as a compliment. You're a big character in their fantasy lives.
Aaron Adamson: Why you hugging that lady?
Brad Adamson: Well, that's what I'm trying to show you with Bozo. Sometimes it's a game that adults play to show that they're friends. You say, "Hi, I'm your friend."
Narrator: Aaron was skeptical.
May McGorvey: There are four whole columns of lonely women here, and only a handful of men. The odds are on our side. Why wouldn't one of these women want to meet a nice person like you?
Ronald James McGorvey: I'm not a nice person.
May McGorvey: You did a bad thing. But that doesn't mean you're a bad person.
Ronald James McGorvey: I have a psychosexual disorder.
May McGorvey: You're better now. They wouldn't have let you out if you weren't.
Ronald James McGorvey: They let me out because they had to.
May McGorvey: Well, maybe if you found a girlfriend closer to your own age you wouldn't have the bad urges so often.
Ronald James McGorvey: I don't want a girlfriend my own age, Mommy. I wish I did.
May McGorvey: What are you going to do when I'm gone? Who's going to take care of you?
Ronald James McGorvey: What's the matter, Mommy? Are you sick or something?
May McGorvey: I'm an old woman. I'm not going to live forever. Who's going to cook for you? Who's going to wash the dishes?
Ronald James McGorvey: I can wash the dishes.
May McGorvey: You've never washed a dish in your life.
Ronald James McGorvey: I could do it if I had to. I'm not a retard.
Sarah Pierce: I think I understand your feelings about this book. I used to have some problems with it myself. When I read it in grad school, Madame Bovary just seemed like a fool. She marries the wrong man, makes one foolish mistake after another. But when I read it this time, I just fell in love with her. She's trapped. She has a choice. She can either accept a life of misery or she can struggle against it. And she chooses to struggle.
Mary Kay: Some struggle! Hop into bed with every guy who says hello.
Sarah Pierce: Well, she fails in the end, but there's something beautiful and even heroic in her rebellion. My professors would kill me for even thinking this, but... in her own strange way, Emma Bovary is a feminist.
Mary Kay: Oh, that's nice. So now cheating on your husband makes you a feminist?
Sarah Pierce: No no no. It's not the cheating. It's the hunger. The hunger for an alternative, and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness.
Mary Kay: Maybe I didn't understand the book!
May McGorvey: You look handsome. She won't be disappointed.
Ronald James McGorvey: Wait'll she hears about my criminal record.
Sarah Pierce: You're nervous, aren't you?
Brad Adamson: What? What do you mean?
Sarah Pierce: The game. Don't worry. You'll be great tonight.
Brad Adamson: I don't know. I haven't played in 10 years. It used to be my whole life. Then when I stopped, I just... stopped. I didn't even miss it. Now that I'm playing again, I... feel, I-- I don't know.
Sarah Pierce: You feel alive.
Brad Adamson: Yeah.
Sarah Pierce: That's good. That's how you're supposed to feel.

Cast

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