Little Children (DVD, 2007)

Kate Winslet stars in "Little Children" as Sarah, a bored housewife and mother. She spends her days enduring miserable playground playdates with the neighborhood mothers. She's the designated ditzy mother, who forgets to bring her daughter's snack and even fails to bond with her child. At one point, she compares herself to an anthropologist studying a foreign culture, so alienated is she from her fellow mothers. Into this morass stumbles Patrick Wilson playing Brad, the only stay-at-home father in the neighborhood. The women are fascinated by Brad and quickly nickname him "The Prom King." However, despite their fantasies about Brad, they're petrified to actually admit this handsome young father into their group. One day, Sarah does precisely that.

The movie is ultimately about isolation, which is even more strongly seen in a subplot concerning Jackie Earle Haley. His character returns home following a conviction for exposing himself to a child. The townspeople react to him with predictable venom, even as their own misdeeds unfold before our eyes. This moral ambiguity permeates every frame of "Little Children," turning a good drama into something more transcendent - something much more akin to real life. Indeed, characters go from likeable to pathetic and back again within a blink of an eye, all lead by the brilliant acting of Winslet.

Todd Field's follow-up to 2001's "In the Bedroom" is masterfully directed. Fortunately, "Little Children" manages to avoid the melodrama that marred his earlier effort. The Oscar nominated screenplay by Todd Field and Tom Perrotta is based on Perrotta's novel of the same name. The script doesn't always flow perfectly, with frequent jumps between subplots and sometimes jarring changes in tone. However, the plot avoids predictability, with just a few missteps toward the end. All in all, "Little Children" is a first-rate drama - the kind that will stick with you long after the denouement.