Marking Time

I never got what all the fuss was about with American Beauty. It was acclaimed as a serious commentary on mid-life crisis and suburban malaise but to me it was a cartoon story full of caricatures with unlikely relationships and unconvincing motivations - a little too close to American Pie for my liking.

Little Children is in similar terrain but it rings truer. The characters are more rounded and more interesting and the story has a lot more subtlety and nuance. And it’s a lot darker, a bit hectic at times, especially when you’re the only people in the cinema as we were the other night.