sildarmillion Spoiler-free reivew: This is a story about mundane life and its problems. Largely it's the story of a beautiful friendship between two boys which is challenged when their parents have a business dispute. Jake's dad is evicting Tony's mom. But it's one of those cases where neither side is to blame, because both sides are having financial troubles. But you keep watching because Jake and Tony have a truly wonderful friendship, and you want them to last it out. And the story ends up where you expect these events to naturally lead.Spoilery review: Jake's dad and aunt inherit their late father's properties, and they are both in need of money, but Tony's mom, who rents out a shop pays very little rent. She had been good friends with their late father, who cut her a break and never increased her rents. And she expects the children will do the same in honor of their father's memory. You can understand that both sides are at an impasse. But both sets of adults don't behave in the nicest ways. Jake's dad really does try to go about it in a decent way, but his sister seems comes off as cold-hearted and callous. Tony's mom was initially the one we sympathized with (because she is getting evicted), but her expectation of the same treatment from the children as the father feel very entitled - especially when she starts to insult them personally and declare that their financial woes are none of her problem.As unfortunate as this dispute is, much more delightful it is to watch Tony and Jake together. And it's that much heartbreaking to watch the ending where it seems that they will never be reunited. But part of you hopes that someday they will want to put all this behind them and seek each other out again.

powermandan Little Men is a small but wonderful gem of a film. It is not great, heck it doesn't live up its potential, but there are some elements that make this worth watching. The movie is about two teenagers from Brooklyn that become best friends. Jake Jardine is a timid artist and Tony Calvelli is more outgoing and an aspiring actor. Jake's dad (Greg Kinnear) is a struggling actor, so it all seems to fit together well. Jake's grandfather owned a dress shop and Tony's mother was the most valuable employee. Jake and Tony meet at the funeral, but it also becomes the battleground for the parents.Jake and Tony's friendship is touching. They play video games, joke around, roller-blade, etc. We know that they have each other's back no matter what. The only problem is we don't see much of this. At 85 minutes, more stuff could have been built around the kids. Their friendship is upstaged by the parents. Bad move.The parents' rivalry is so uninteresting. Who cares about a silly old lease? We want to see that blossoming friendship between Jake and Tony. I'm not saying that the parental aspect isn't important, because it really is. The movie is about the impact that feuding parents have on best friends. I just simply disagree with the time that was devoted to each story. The only part of Jake and Tony's story I didn't like was them going to a teenage nightclub. Other than that, I enjoyed every minute of the time spent with them. When the kids are brought into the mix of the parents, it is very well done. But it is over much too quickly. It also featured a bad ending that could easily have been avoided.This movie needs to be remade sometime in the next few years. It had so much potential and everybody can see where they went wrong. Is this a bad movie? No. Some things are great. Just enough to give a thumbs up. But I would love to see a revised version of this.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) "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.

kevbee This film is a joy. I'm a long way from age 13, but this film reminded me of the ups and downs of teenage relationships. Two boys, one shy, one feisty thrown together by circumstance. They form a strong bond just as their respective parents grow apart. The boys don't have the emotional experience to understand the reasons why there is a rift between their respective parents. They resort to childish ploys to restore the status quo. Clearly this doesn't work. I won't give away the ending. But please go and see this film for the two outstanding performances from the two boys. Just breathtaking. And familiar. And a brilliant light touch from the director. I just want to see it again.