Fridae

In 2001, writer-director Todd Field stunned many viewers with his beautiful family drama, In The Bedroom. Boasting an excellent script and powerful performances from Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson, it received 5 Oscar nominations but won none. No matter. Fans of his work still looked forward to his next film, Little Children, which once again promised to dissect the lives of ordinary men and women with insight and precision.

Opening this week, Little Children stars the ravishing Kate Winslet as a bored housewife who meets a handsome househusband (Patrick Wilson) in a playground and foolishly falls for him. While their children play or nap together, the two fuck each other's brains out � which, for some of us, offer the perfect opportunity to gaze at Kate's perfect breasts and Patrick's gorgeous ass. Meanwhile, the arrival of a new resident (Jackie Earle Haley) in the neighbourhood is greeted with concern, as he had been formerly convicted of child molestation. In strange and inexplicable ways, their lives intersect.

Little Children is that rare film with understands the basic frustrations many ordinary people have with their lives and marriages. Without ever being condescending or simplistic, it portrays people trapped in relationships and households that are neither happy nor unhappy - relationship and households that don't give them enough reasons to leave, but don't give them much reason to be cheerful either.

Little Children has garnered three Oscar nominations (including Best Actress for Kate and Best Supporting Actor for Jackie) but it should have gotten more. The script is spare and poignant, the camerawork is simple yet powerful. Viewers who dislike films such as In The Bedroom, The Ice Storm and Broken Flowers shouldn't bother with this film. But anyone who loved those films will be mesmerized by this. For them, Little Children should rank at the top of their must-see lists.

Don't miss it.