Little Children

Echoes of "Madame Bovary" in the American suburbs. Sarah's in a loveless marriage, long days with her young daughter at the park and the pool, wanting more. Brad is a househusband, married to a flinty documentary filmmaker. Ronnie is just out of prison - two years for indecent exposure - living with his mother; Larry is a retired cop, fixated on driving Ronnie away. Sarah and Brad connect, a respite of adult companionship at the pool. Ronnie and Larry have their demons. Brad should be studying for the bar; Larry misses his job; Ronnie's mom thinks he needs a girlfriend. Sarah longs to refuse to be trapped in an unhappy life. Where can these tangled paths lead?

Living in an upper middle class family-oriented suburb, Sarah and Richard Pierce, who have an infant daughter Lucy, have a dysfunctional marriage. Sarah is already seen as a bit of an outsider amongst the "park mothers", so news of the Pierce's dysfunctional marriage would drive a further wedge between Sarah and the rest of the mothers, who espouse the "white picket fence/2.4 children" mentality. Into the park comes househusband Brad Adamson and his infant son Aaron. Not knowing who he is or his story, the park mothers coin him "The Prom King" because of his preppy good looks. They collectively have a "look but don't touch" mentality toward Brad. Brad is struggling to find his place in life, having already failed the bar exam twice and avoiding his third attempt. He continually is looking for connections to his youth, when his life held so much promise. As such, he too is in a unsatisfying marriage to his beautiful and driven wife, Kathy, the household breadwinner. By chance, Sarah and Brad get to know each other, and are attracted to each other if only in their search for that something missing in their lives. The question becomes what they are to do with their feelings. In the meantime, sex offender Ronnie McGorvey, who was convicted for exposing himself to a child, moves into the neighborhood into the home of his mother, upon whom he has a pseudo-Oedipus complex. Ex-police officer Larry Hedges, an acquaintance of Brad's, takes it upon himself as his primary goal in life to rid the "perfect" family neighborhood of this scourge.