M&M: Little Children

In a small suburban town Brad (Patrick Wilson) is on the playing ground with his son Aaron (Ty Simpkins) as they meet Sarah (Kate Winslet) and her daughter Lucy (Sadie Goldstein). Being the only man amongst women on the playing ground, Brad is idolised a lot. Brad and Sarah decide to play a trick on th other women. They both start to like each other soon. Brad is married, but his wife is very controlling and he wishes himself back to earlier times. Sarah is married, too, but her life as a housewife and her daughter go on her nerves.

The idyllic times of the suburb comes to a hold when Ronald „Ronnie“ McGorvey (Jackie Earle Haley), who was convicted to two years in prison is released and moves in with his mother May (Phyllis Somerville). Especially the ex-cop Larry Hedges (Noah Emmerich) is not at all pleased with this and starts a hate campaign against Ronnie McGorvey. Larry Hedges quit the police job after he misjudged a situation and a teenager got killed in the process.

So effectively every adult in this town is insecure, unhappy and burdened by their fate, each in their own way. Only the little children are confident and innocent. If and how the adults work on a (better) future for themselves, you'll have to find out yourself.

The movie came out in 2006. Todd Field was the director and also wrote the script together with Tom Perrotta. It is based on the novel by the same name by Tom Perrotta. The movie shows the daily life and struggles of suburbanites. Still the relationships of each individual person and their fears and difficulties are complex and well played by the actors. Kate Winslet got an Oscar nomination as leading actress and so did Jackie Earle Haley for supporting actor. Todd Field and Tom Perrotta got a nomination for best writing for adapted screenplay. “Little Children” is by no means a cheap suburban daily life movie.

I haven't read the novel yet, so I can't draw any parallels. I do think the movie is worth watching. Ronnie McGorvey's sexual offence and his moving in with his mother may give this movie an uneasy sexual aspect. Apart from the fact that I like Jackie Earle Haley as an actor, I did have the feeling that Ronnie McGorvey wanted to start a better life for himself. I thought that Larry Hedges with his aggressive ways was more disrupting for this place and for way to live together peacefully. But he, too, had his very own problems and at th end of the movie he shows that he can overcome his anger and disgust to help.

M&M: Passengers

The 2008 movie Passengers tells the story of the psychotherapist Claire Summers (Anne Hathaway), who gets called to help the five sole survivors of a plane crash. Eric (Patrick Wilson) is one of the survivors and unusually happy to euphoric after the crash. He refuses to go to the group meetings and confirms to Claire several times that he's not a patient. He completely refuses a therapy. Claire and Eric get closer to each other through the “house calls” anyway. Meanwhile the other survivors start to vanish. Eric hinted already during the first meeting with Claire that she should get in contact with her sister. But she doesn't answer calls and when Claire visits her, she's not at home. She does however meet an airline official, who asserts that all the passengers have died and the pilot had caused the disaster. The man leaves a pilot's case standing there. In it Claire finds a passenger list. On that list is also her own name.

The movie is overall pretty calm without huge action scenes. I personally mostly liked the relationship between Claire and Eric and the interactions of the actors off each other. Claire strives to help Eric, on his terms, and doesn't push him to the meetings with the others. Eric on the other hand seems sympathic, at least to me, despite (or because of?) his positive, reckless, euphoric way.

The revelation of what the deal is with the passengers at the end is probably not very surprising and similar to other known movies. In the end the movie, for me, isn't so much a mystery-thriller or drama, although it could be seen as that. For me, the movie is maily about relationships to other people and about people concerned for other people. Claire is concerned for the passengers and her neighbour (played by Dianne Wiest) and others are for her. It's obvious only at the end just how much and why they truly are.

When I watched the movie for the first time, I inevitably thought of a certain well known tv series. The end of that series and with that the revelation of what's going on with the characters there disappointed a lot of people. I myself didn't make it past the end of the first season of that series. As well known as the revelation of Passengers may be in the end, I think the way Passengers is told and constructed is way better and fairer for the viewer than the series was.

With all the relationships and care for other people, will there be a chance for the relationship between Clare and her obviously estranged sister? You'll have to see it for yourself.

This movie isn't set around Christmas, not even in winter. Defining for me to pick it for a review on December was a remark made by Eric, “That crash. It's like being born again.” Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus (although not his re-birth) and is, more than other Christian holidays a holiday about relationships.