"Little Men" is an American co-production with Greece and Brazil that resulted in a (mostly) English-language movie from last year 2016, so it is a pretty new movie still. It is relatively short, does not even come close to the 90-minute mark and it's the newest work by writer and director Ira Sachs. This is basically the story of two boys who become friends despite being relatively different in terms of character, ethnicities and backgrounds. One of them is the son of a couple that just moved in the husband's dead father's house and the other is the son of a Hispanic single mother working hard to make a living. Now this mother has a shop on the first floor at this house and the deceased rented it to her for a really tiny amount of money. The new tenants explain to her that she will have to pay more because they (or at least the dad) are facing financial struggles as well. Unluckily for everybody, the woman cannot keep her business if she has to pay considerably more rent each month from then on. A really complicated scenario.
This also has a major impact of course on the relationship between the boys. or does it really? They still stick together, but maybe they also do not really know in depth about the situation. I think the film scores a lot through its authenticity and I never felt that I was watching actors. Oscar nominee Kinnear and Paulina García (brilliant in "Gloria) have some moments in which they really shine and the film scores a lot through its realism and it's easy for the audience to hope the parties can solve their issues and be it only because of the boys' friendship. A try-hard movie would have included parts about the girl of interest for one of the boys having possibly an interest in the other, but not so this one here. The drama never feels for the sake of it and the friendship feels very real. Of course, the boys' interest in acting creates an even stronger bond with Kinnear's character working in the same profession as well. Actually he appears in a stage play where he plays a film writer, so this is basically acting about acting about acting. Now, enough of that. It is a very essential movie (also with the ending) that has strong focus and solid elaborations and I enjoyed watching it from start to finish. If it plays anywhere near you, go see it. You won't be disappointed. On a final side-note, Alfred Molina (always nice to see him), a lead actor in Sachs' previous, plays a smaller part in here as well.
This also has a major impact of course on the relationship between the boys. or does it really? They still stick together, but maybe they also do not really know in depth about the situation. I think the film scores a lot through its authenticity and I never felt that I was watching actors. Oscar nominee Kinnear and Paulina García (brilliant in "Gloria) have some moments in which they really shine and the film scores a lot through its realism and it's easy for the audience to hope the parties can solve their issues and be it only because of the boys' friendship. A try-hard movie would have included parts about the girl of interest for one of the boys having possibly an interest in the other, but not so this one here. The drama never feels for the sake of it and the friendship feels very real. Of course, the boys' interest in acting creates an even stronger bond with Kinnear's character working in the same profession as well. Actually he appears in a stage play where he plays a film writer, so this is basically acting about acting about acting. Now, enough of that. It is a very essential movie (also with the ending) that has strong focus and solid elaborations and I enjoyed watching it from start to finish. If it plays anywhere near you, go see it. You won't be disappointed. On a final side-note, Alfred Molina (always nice to see him), a lead actor in Sachs' previous, plays a smaller part in here as well.