2006 / Todd Field > The follow-up to In the Bedroom, Little Children comes off as a mixture between Desperate Housewives (voiceover included) and Crash. There is excess in its tactics, although technically, Field keeps total and absolute control of his world. The film shifts between its central storyline and a side one, and while that can be attributed to the source material, it’s nonetheless inexcusable as it distracts from the chemistry between Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson. Their story is a tragedy, and it’s beautiful in its process. But those around them remain miniatures of the real thing, exerting one-sided characterizations and little in terms of evolution. Unlike In the Bedroom, where the line between right and wrong was blurred, Little Children positions its characters’ actions in such a judgmental manner that its hard to swallow every bit by the end.