Tag: Greg Kinnear

LITTLE MEN (2016) film review by Gwen Hughes

Leave a comment

No, definitely not Louisa May Alcott’s Little Men. This film from director Ira Sachs tells the story of a friendship between two young boys growing up in Brooklyn.

Brian and Kathy Jardine (Greg Kinnear and Jennifer Ehle) move to Brooklyn with their 13-year-old son, Jake (Theo Taplitz), after Brian’s dad dies and leaves them the building he owns. Having grown up in Manhattan, Jake is reticent at first but learns to enjoy the quieter side of the city and space to roam.  

Jake befriends Tony (Michael Barbieri), another 13-year-old whose mother Leonor (Paulina Garcia) rents the storefront below the Jardines’ apartment. Exuberant Tony dreams of being an actor and looks to Jake’s dad, a washed-up movie star for inspiration, because his own absentee father is a nurse working overseas.

Jake and Tony spend days rollerblading and scootering through Brooklyn. Sleepovers and video games abound. But problems arise when Jake’s parents must raise Leonor’s rent to support their family. Leonor objects, citing her close relationship with Brian’s late father as the reason she deserves to stay. She’s a single parent, an immigrant and longtime tenant, and she won’t go down without a fight.

The dilemma is unique, and the solution is sure to be complex, if it exists at all.

Amidst this simple story, some scenes drag. Long scenes are used to exhibit the slower pace of life in Brooklyn but frequently end up feeling rather clunky.  

Overall though, the script is tight. Insightful and simple dialogue is knocked out of the park by perfect casting. The two young boys, newly discovered by Ira Sachs, give honest and raw performances. A highlight is Theo Taplitz’s emotional monologue at the end of the film – he had me in tears.

Paulina Garcia is also incredible. The Chilean actress plays the role of disgruntled Leonor beautifully. She shines in the uncomfortable money discussions with Kinnear, where her searing and highly personal insults pack a punch.

Little Men is simple and unassuming. Friendship is at its heart, but the demands of parents and city life won’t let up. Head to Hulu and see how they fare.

(Now streaming on Hulu)

~~~~

Gwen Hughes is a seasoned writer and the Editor-in-Chief at Madison Park Living magazine. When she is not working, she enjoys reading short stories, quoting John Mulaney Netflix specials, and eating family-size boxes of Mott’s Fruit Snacks. 

HEAVEN IS FOR REAL (2014) movie review

3 Comments

heaven-is-for-real-burpo-sonIn Heaven is For Real, I’m afraid it’s the end that doesn’t justify the means.

Parts of this film are really beautiful, and the characters are likable.  The Burpos have a marriage worth fighting for. Greg Kinnear plays a quality good guy patriarch pastor to a tea. When he cries, we cry.  He could be our modern Michael Landon. And like Landon, he is walking his Highway to Heaven. He agonizes over all while the world doubts.

heaven-is-for-real1-e1397673569811This film shares the gospel truth about a midwestern pastor’s struggle with finances and health issues only to be throttled by his son’s near death experience. Little Colton starts discussing his visit to heaven: seeing angels and animals, meeting Jesus and other family members like the great-grandfather he never knew and his unborn sister. 

heaven-is-a-young-boyHeaven Is For Real runs right up to an often unpopular edge: claiming Jesus as Lord, forgiver, redeemer.

But then it shrinks back at the last moment claiming heaven is in all of us. I’m sure the sweet family who wrote the book felt a drop in their stomachs when they watched the feel good ending praise the message of a Universalist religion rather than the gospel they preach.
526x297-3evWe can put up with a whole lot of still shots of the front of their house and discussions on the back porch. But it is painful to watch a whole film stand up and make a point only to sit down and deny it in the final moments.