'Little Men' is sweet with powerfully understated acting
鈥淟ittle Men鈥� is a sweet, deceptively slight movie about boyhood聽friendship and parental conflict set against the backdrop of a gentrified聽New York. Director Ira Sachs, who co-wrote with Mauricio Zacharias, has聽a plangent feeling for the small-scale travails of 鈥渙rdinary鈥� people 鈥� who,聽of course, are only ordinary on the surface.
Jake (Theo Taplitz), who is somewhat shy and intellectual, has moved with his聽parents, Brian (Greg Kinnear), a struggling actor, and Kathy (Jennifer聽Ehle), a psychotherapist, from Manhattan to the Brooklyn apartment Brian聽inherited from his grandfather, Max. Leonor (Paulina Garcia), the mother聽of Jake鈥檚 new, extroverted best friend, Tony (Michael Barbieri), runs a聽dress shop in a unit that Max had rented out to her at way below market聽rate. The rift between Leonor and Jake鈥檚 parents, who want to triple the聽rent, eventually creates a chasm between the two boys as well.
Sachs is the filmic equivalent of a good short story writer; he sketches聽in the basics and then lets the moments play out minus a lot of bombast.聽There were times in 鈥淟ittle Men鈥� when I wish he had filled things in a bit聽more 鈥� too often what is intended as spare seemed sparse instead. But he聽has a genuine feeling for his people鈥檚 humanity 鈥� no one here is a villain 鈥撀燼nd the acting is uniformly powerful (and powerfully understated). The聽film grows in retrospect, as I find is often true for me with Sachs鈥� work,聽especially his last film, 鈥淟ove Is Strange.鈥� A director who cares more聽about people than camera moves is a rarity these days. Grade:聽B+ (Rated PG for thematic elements, smoking and some language.)
