Film ReviewsLittle Men
Sep 30, 2016 Anchorage Press
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Jake Jardine (Theo Taplitz) is that kid-the one with few friends and who gets lost in his world and sits quietly drawing while his peers gallivant around him. Tony Calvelli (Michael Barbieri) is that other kid, the one with big dreams, less resources and a winning personality. Little Men is about the fraternal love affair between Jake and Tony in the concrete jungles of Brooklyn and Manhattan. Directed by Ira Sachs, Little Men can be billed as a coming of age story, but it's more than that because the nuclear cast comprises two very different families whose lives intersect as a microcosm of life in the big city. The plot covers a snapshot in time that viewers can trace to their past and project into the characters' future based on the brief glimpse into their temperaments and respective place in the world.
Sachs builds the story through lovely details and gestures that-like brush strokes-can go unnoticed, but without which the movie or painting would be flat and uneventful. Like a masterful painting, the viewer is presented with quotidian tales of the haves and have-nots and the underlying truth the dynamic exemplifies about the bigger societal picture. Jake's parents are played by Jennifer Ehle (Kathy Jardine) and Greg Kinnear as Brian Jardine. Brian is a mostly-unemployed actor whose life has passed him by, and who struggles to get a footing in life. Thus, he transfers his dreams to his son-a talented artist.
When Brian's dad dies and leaves him and his sister (Talia Balsam) an apartment and storefront in Brooklyn, the Jardines make their move to the quickly-gentrifying borough. The storefront is occupied by a sewing shop owned by Tony's mother, Leonor Calvelli (Paulina Garcia). While Leonor had a stable and mutually caring relationship with the deceased grandfather, her relationship with the younger Jardines is that of a tenant and nothing more. Business is slow, so it's not hard to see where the commercial relationship is headed.
Jake and Tony are not so different, but have different starting points, so while they both dream of getting into New York's coveted LaGuardia High School specializing in young, talented minds-guess who has a better shot?
Little Men focuses on the relationship between the two boys-the gives and takes. The film is emotionally compelling without overdoing it. Sachs delivers thoughtful narratives through resounding acting and the environment in which it unfolds.
There is something very familiar about the texture of the city, the noises and cacophony sound harmonious and somewhat comforting. It's the kind of feeling one gets when one truly *hearts* NY.
The setting, beautiful cinematography and carefully constructed shots all serve to lull the viewer into settling nicely into the relationship between the boys. There is something very familiar and fleeting; love and innocence right at that last moment before everything changes and nothing can ever be the same again. Sachs manages to give viewers that penultimate breath before adulthood, the one just before life happens and can't be stopped. All one can do is move on and recognize the purity of it once all has been mucked up.
Little Men shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, Oct. 3 at 8:10 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday, October 4 and 5 at 5:30 p.m.
Sachs builds the story through lovely details and gestures that-like brush strokes-can go unnoticed, but without which the movie or painting would be flat and uneventful. Like a masterful painting, the viewer is presented with quotidian tales of the haves and have-nots and the underlying truth the dynamic exemplifies about the bigger societal picture. Jake's parents are played by Jennifer Ehle (Kathy Jardine) and Greg Kinnear as Brian Jardine. Brian is a mostly-unemployed actor whose life has passed him by, and who struggles to get a footing in life. Thus, he transfers his dreams to his son-a talented artist.
When Brian's dad dies and leaves him and his sister (Talia Balsam) an apartment and storefront in Brooklyn, the Jardines make their move to the quickly-gentrifying borough. The storefront is occupied by a sewing shop owned by Tony's mother, Leonor Calvelli (Paulina Garcia). While Leonor had a stable and mutually caring relationship with the deceased grandfather, her relationship with the younger Jardines is that of a tenant and nothing more. Business is slow, so it's not hard to see where the commercial relationship is headed.
Jake and Tony are not so different, but have different starting points, so while they both dream of getting into New York's coveted LaGuardia High School specializing in young, talented minds-guess who has a better shot?
Little Men focuses on the relationship between the two boys-the gives and takes. The film is emotionally compelling without overdoing it. Sachs delivers thoughtful narratives through resounding acting and the environment in which it unfolds.
There is something very familiar about the texture of the city, the noises and cacophony sound harmonious and somewhat comforting. It's the kind of feeling one gets when one truly *hearts* NY.
The setting, beautiful cinematography and carefully constructed shots all serve to lull the viewer into settling nicely into the relationship between the boys. There is something very familiar and fleeting; love and innocence right at that last moment before everything changes and nothing can ever be the same again. Sachs manages to give viewers that penultimate breath before adulthood, the one just before life happens and can't be stopped. All one can do is move on and recognize the purity of it once all has been mucked up.
Little Men shows at Bear Tooth on Monday, Oct. 3 at 8:10 p.m., and Tuesday and Wednesday, October 4 and 5 at 5:30 p.m.