Little Men
Filmmaker Ira Sachs follows up critical darling Love is Strange with another New York-set tale following the new friendship of two boys who can't avoid their parents' problems.
When 13-year-old Jake’s (Theo Taplitz) grandfather dies, his family moves from Manhattan back into his father’s old Brooklyn home. There, Jake befriends the charismatic Tony (Michael Barbieri), whose single mother Leonor (Paulina García), a dressmaker from Chile, runs the shop downstairs. Soon, Jake’s parents Brian (Greg Kinnear) and Kathy (Jennifer Ehle) — one a struggling actor, the other a psychotherapist — ask Leonor to sign a new, steeper, lease on her store. For Leonor, the proposed new rent is untenable, and a feud ignites between the adults.
At first, Jake and Tony don’t seem to notice; the two boys, so different on the surface, begin to develop a formative kinship as they discover the pleasures of being young in Brooklyn. Jake aspires to be an artist, while Tony wants to be an actor, and they have dreams of going to the same prestigious arts high school together. But the children can’t avoid the problems of their parents forever, and soon enough, the adult conflict intrudes upon the borders of their friendship.
- Director:
- Ira Sachs ('Love is Strange', 'Keep the Lights On', 'Married Life', 'Forty Shades of Blue')
- Writer:
- Ira SachsMauricio Zacharias
- Cast:
- Greg KinnearTheo TaplitzMichael BarbieriJennifer EhlePaulina GarcíaTalia BalsamClare FoleyAlfred Molina
Reviews & comments
Almost nothing is said. Suggestion prevails ... like one of those sensitive and ferocious stories that Chekhov wrote
Those little men growing up, their intimate truth, their views on their world; Ira Sachs captures them with an overwhelming grace and an open-mindedness that seems to know no limits. Without precipitation, the film-maker takes the time to make his characters exist on the screen, to make them more real and close to us than ever. This bitter-sweet comedy...
Variety
pressA little movie brimming with little truths about modern life. It won’t change the world, but it does understand it.
Time Out
pressIf [it] doesn't feel quite as revelatory as Keep the Lights On (2012) or the heartbreaking Love Is Strange (2014), it still impresses you with its quiet, confident maturity.
The Guardian
pressSachs’ approach is so humane, and his characters so fully rendered, that an agenda never announces itself...
Stuff
pressThere's nothing really memorable from a movie where the number of producers appear to dwarf the actors.
Rolling Stone
pressIt's time to realize that Ira Sachs is a modern master. Little Men, with its two boys racing at life with the brick wall of maturity still at a distance, is truly an exhilarating gift.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe performances are impeccable. Sachs is a master of expressive understatement, and that applies both to the young actors playing the boys and to the adults.
Empire Magazine
pressFollowing up Love Is Strange with another slice of urban bohemia, Sachs' latest is another gem that's full of heart and warmth.
Variety
pressA little movie brimming with little truths about modern life. It won’t change the world, but it does understand it.
Time Out
pressIf [it] doesn't feel quite as revelatory as Keep the Lights On (2012) or the heartbreaking Love Is Strange (2014), it still impresses you with its quiet, confident maturity.
The Guardian
pressSachs’ approach is so humane, and his characters so fully rendered, that an agenda never announces itself...
Stuff
pressThere's nothing really memorable from a movie where the number of producers appear to dwarf the actors.
Rolling Stone
pressIt's time to realize that Ira Sachs is a modern master. Little Men, with its two boys racing at life with the brick wall of maturity still at a distance, is truly an exhilarating gift.
Hollywood Reporter
pressThe performances are impeccable. Sachs is a master of expressive understatement, and that applies both to the young actors playing the boys and to the adults.
Empire Magazine
pressFollowing up Love Is Strange with another slice of urban bohemia, Sachs' latest is another gem that's full of heart and warmth.
Almost nothing is said. Suggestion prevails ... like one of those sensitive and ferocious stories that Chekhov wrote
Those little men growing up, their intimate truth, their views on their world; Ira Sachs captures them with an overwhelming grace and an open-mindedness that seems to know no limits. Without precipitation, the film-maker takes the time to make his characters exist on the screen, to make them more real and close to us than ever. This bitter-sweet comedy...
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