When 13-year-old Jake’s (Theo Taplitz) grandfather dies, his family moves from Manhattan back into his father’s old Brooklyn home. There, Jake befriends the charismatic Tony (Michael Barbieri), whose single mother Leonor (Paulina Garcia, Gloria), a dressmaker from Chile, runs the shop downstairs. Soon, Jake’s parents Brian (Greg Kinnear) and Kathy (Jennifer Ehle) — one, a struggling actor, the other, a psychotherapist — ask Leonor to sign a new, steeper lease on her store. For Leonor, the proposed new rent is untenable, and a feud ignites between the adults. At first, Jake and Tony don’t seem to notice; the two boys, so different on the surface, begin to develop a formative kinship as they discover the pleasures of being young in Brooklyn. Jake aspires to be an artist, while Tony wants to be an actor, and they have dreams of going to the same prestigious arts high school together. But the children can’t avoid the problems of their parents forever, and soon enough, the adult conflict intrudes upon the borders of their friendship. Director and co-writer Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Keep the Lights On, Forty Shades of Blue) with his trademark humanism and insight, Little Men highlights the New York City landscape with a story of life-defining friendships in the midst of familial turmoil. He joins us for a conversation on his latest cinematic gem.
For news and updates go to:littlemenfilm.com
Opens Friday, August 12th in Los Angeles at the following theaters:
LAEMMLE ROYAL – LOS ANGELES, CA
SUNDANCE SUNET CINEMA – WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA
LAEMMLE PASADENA PLAYHOUSE – PASADENA, CA
“As Leonor, Garcia, who killed as a grouchy middle-aged single woman in the Chilean “Gloria,” manages to combine grace with stridency.” – Matt Prigge, METRO
“I don’t know how to do justice to Garcia. When she smokes outside her shop, it’s as if her anger is keeping the cigarette burning.” – David Edelstein, NEW YORK MAGAZINE
“Garcia, though meek of manner, has a resilience that verges on the unnerving. We are so accustomed to cranky characters undergoing a sentimental sweetening that it’s a shock when Leonor does the opposite.” – Anthony Lane, THE NEW YORKER
“Garcia gives Leonor formidable strength of character.” – David Rooney, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
“Garcia is all simmering, passive-aggressive resentment as Leonor. Behind the character’s pinched smile, we sense a lifetime of having to put up with the more fortunate, always having to balance between being friendly and sticking up for herself.” – Tim Grierson, PASTE MAGAZINE