Few filmmakers working right now understand the complexity of human relationships quite like Ira Sachs. His movies often tackle difficult situations, but he explores them with a sense of realism we rarely get to see. Hearing Sachs explain that he does not rehearse with his actors and that they do not recite their dialogue aloud until they are on set is a testament to why his characters feel so lived in. It's a refreshing change of pace, as most character dramas have to hit a series of beats, most often climaxing with a serious conflict and at least one big emotional moment. Not that those don't happen in real life, mind you, but Sachs tends to keep the action on the more even tempered side.
Sachs' latest work, Little Men, is able to, in the span of barely 85 minutes, effectively examine the lives of two children and their attempt to understand the behavior of their parents. Thirteen-year-old Jake (Theo Taplitz) becomes fast friends with Tony (Michael Barbieri) following the death of Jake's grandfather. Their budding camaraderie is shown through a mutual love of the arts; Jake enjoys drawing and Tony wants to be an actor. What's refreshing about this is that their parents actually encourage and support them where in a lesser movie, they would discourage them. In Jake's case, this support probably comes from the fact that his father, Brian (Greg Kinnear), is a struggling actor. His mother, Kathy (Jennifer Ehle), is a therapist and the sole bread winner, and while the movie could have created tension out of that, instead it shows a healthy marriage based on trust and understanding.
The boys budding friendship is tested when it looks as if Brian might have to evict Tony's mother, Leonor (Paulina Garcia), from the dress shop she runs because he now owns the building and has to raise the rent. The question of how far one's generosity can stretch is tested here, particularly if it means looking out for one's own family first. Sachs stages a series of difficult conversations between Brian and Leonor in which he states what is financially right while she is only concerned with what feels morally right. It puts Brian in an uncomfortable place, not just because of what she meant to his recently deceased father, who was letting her run the shop even though business was slow, but also because of how it could affect Jake and Tony's friendship.
The title refers, I think, to Jake and Tony's painful discoveries regarding adulthood, as well as Brian's struggle to be a good father and set an example for his son. There are moments when father and son clash here when each doesn't know what the other is going through, and those scenes are complimented by conversations that beautifully show how powerful honesty and communication can be. Look, for example, late in the movie where Brian gives Jake a pep talk on why he needs to keep drawing. Or a scene in the kitchen when Jake is discouraged over some of his artwork that possibly got thrown away. Sachs is able to bring the same level of pathos to the subtle exchanges between Jake and Tony, such as when Jake finds out Tony got beat up at school.
In the midst of all these relationships is the movie's setting, Brooklyn, which becomes a character of its own long before the movie is over. This atmosphere clearly has an affect on those who inhabit it, adding an extra layer to the weight of the emotions conveyed. In the course of only six feature films, Ira Sachs has managed to successfully explore a variety of different types of people, young and old, and express not only the intricacies of their interactions, but how the place they live shapes who they are. Little Men is one of his very best movies, a testament to how film can serve as a window into the lives of others who go through the same trials and troubles that we do.
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