Little Men
- Director: Ira Sachs
- Writer: Ira Sachs; Mauricio Zacharias
- Producer: Joe Aliberti; Meetu Chilana
CGiii Comment
Ira Sachs underwhelms...yet again. This is becoming a bit of a habit!
Two teenage boys become fast and furious friends (incomprehensibly fast, impotently furious), they respectively underact (sleep-inducingly so) and overact (irritatingly so)...they have neither interests in common nor chemistry between them...the over-acting gobby one outshines the dismal sensitive one...but, gets less screen-time. Whatever...their friendship is as convincing as a fake Picasso painted by a 5-year-old.
The obvious subtext is as fertile as a dried up desert...couldn't the dismal one become more alive in the presence of the gobby one?!? Is the odd flicker of adolescent wanton desire too much to ask? Or, perhaps, we're reading too much into it and it's just an innocent friendship between a bore and a gob!
There are two significant stories (the boys and the shop), both with strong foundations...but, frustratingly, Sachs refuses to take either one to a salient climax...there's little conflict, there's practically no resolution...and, with the addition of a ludicrous hair extension - to denote the passing of time - it fizzles out...well, in truth, nothing actually fizzles in this film...apart from the gobby one who - with sound direction - could be a good little actor...precocity ain't cute to watch on screen...even with the NuYorc drawl.
The mistakes are glaring...
Alfred Molina is - ridiculously - under-used. Paulina Garcia's performance is so controlled and under-stated...it's a performance that deflates in front of your very eyes...surely, in the situation she faces...a little fire would have been ignited under her seamstress's chair?!?
There are a couple of jarring edits. There's some cringing dialogue...there was so much missed potential with these stories that you will ask yourself: Is Mr Sachs the right man to be telling them?
A [frustratingly] disappointing film.
Trailer...
The(ir) Blurb...
Jacob (Theo Taplitz) is a quiet, sensitive middle schooler with dreams of being an artist. He meets the affably brash Antonio (Michael Barbieri) at his grandfather's funeral, and the unlikely pair soon hit it off. The budding friendship is put at risk, however, when a rent dispute between Jacob's father, Bryan (Greg Kinnear), and Antonio's mother, Leonor (Paulina Garcia), threatens to become contentious.
Little Men is a critical yet empathetic look at the dangers of gentrification. Ira Sachs, director of Love Is Strange and the Sundance Grand Jury Prize Winner Forty Shades of Blue, accentuates the natural vibrancy of Brooklyn and brings out the best in his actors. Taplitz and Barbieri have a natural rapport and earnestness that belies their young age. Kinnear and Garcia bring weight to their roles as the feuding parents, and Jennifer Ehle, Talia Balsam, and Alfred Molina round out the cast with wonderful supporting turns. It's a triumphant return to the Festival for Sachs, who has made a film that never lets its abundant kindness interfere with its honest portrayal of a rapidly changing neighborhood.
Cast & Characters
Greg Kinnear;
Paulina Garcia;
Jennifer Ehle;
Theo Taplitz;
Michael Barbieri;
Talia Balsam;
David Krumholtz;
Alfred Molina;
Clare Foley as Sally;
Andy Karl;
Yolonda Ross;
Stella Schnabel;
Arthur J. Nascarella as Stu Gershman;
Elia Monte-Brown as Bianca;
Johnny Serret as Visitor at the Museum