While the marquee name attractions in “Little Men” are Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Ehle, and Alfred Molina, the real stars of the film are Theo Taplitz and Michael Barbieri. They’re the young teenagers who lead this unique drama from Ira Sachs who, following the heart-bursting pictures “Keep The Lights On” and “Love Is Strange,” offers another slice of New York City life.
READ MORE: The 40 Most Anticipated Movies Of Summer 2016
The drama tells the story of the friendship that develops between 13 year-old Jake, whose family moves into an inherited Brooklyn building, and Tony, the son of the dressmaker in the shop below. But soon, tensions between adults spill over into the bond between the boys. Here’s the official synopsis:
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.
A film we called “a profound study of family obligations and generations in transition,” “Little Men” opens on August 5th. Watch the new trailer above.