Little Children by Tom Perrota is one of those fabulous novels that have been turned into better movies. I had seen the movie back in 2008. The movie starred two of my all time favorite actors; Kate Winslet and Patrick Wilson. The movie revolves around two stay at home parents who have completed degrees in higher education. They have both conformed to the lives of the "dominant spouse" and when they find themselves they begin a romantic conection. The problems being to arise with the arivval of a knonw sexual offender.This is where the movie and the book begin to defer.
The movie takes the character of Ronnie the sexual deviant into a more subdued manner, they don't acuse him of murder nor is he as repugnant as he is described in the book. Also the scene where he goes on a date is also thankfully excluded.
The truth is I really liked the movie and the ending was much more powerful, in the book the end was almost laughable. I mean you got the mom who has been a pseudo intellectual now playing Cinderella, the dad who has been for the most part a pretty face who was riding on his luck taking a turn for the better attempting to be a hero. Then you have the secondary characters the "perfect mom" riding in to finally break her own rules and quits becoming a conformist and the sexual deviant who just lost his mom becoming sympathetic to someone besides himself. The really is an asshole all throughout the book while in the movie you don't exactly forgive him or understand why he did what he did but you can sympathize with his character.
All in all the book was a quick read, but I would rather watch the movie.
