Little Boxes

2017
5.9| 1h24m| en
Details

It's the summer before 6th grade, and Clark is the new-in-town biracial kid in a sea of white. Discovering that to be cool he needs to act 'more black,' he fumbles to meet expectations, while his urban intellectual parents Mack and Gina also strive to adjust to small-town living. Equipped for the many inherent challenges of New York, the tight-knit family are ill prepared for the drastically different set of obstacles that their new community presents, and soon find themselves struggling to understand themselves and each other in this new suburban context.

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Reviews

FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.
Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.
Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.
Ersbel Oraph This is a refreshing new variation in script theme. It is nice. And heart felt. It is quite real. Yet, by the end it falls short.There are too many main characters. And somehow, in contrast, too few supporting characters. And for me this mix of three points of view disconnected me from the story.There are many interesting details. And real. The unpleasant mover. The pleasant and rather fake neighbors. The lack of Internet. Yet they seemingly come out of nowhere and they do not develop. And for a passing thing they take way too much time.Which brings to probably the biggest problem: the story is slow. Very slow. Yet, at the end, when they seemingly went out of film, things can be pretty fast and the details are well pruned. Why can't the movie be like the epilogue? Well, probably because there would be enough story for say 25 to 30 minutes. But the quick ending made the entry so much frustrating.And there are wasteful scenes. In one the husband walks on the New York sidewalk. No information. Quite peaceful. Later he will do the same in Rome. Besides the extra trees and fewer people, there is no change. There isn't any mood, even if the producers probably badly wanted to mimic the waste of film done in European artsy movies paid by the state.In the end, with the given happy ending, this movie goes against everything written in plots and by critics. I did not see the white suburban community. Just a white and unpleasantly polite community that radiates fake. Which is true for any community that involves status. There are racial tensions. But the conflicts are well white washed. And the people have conflicts based on the tensions. Nothing about racism. Peaceful? But their life in New York is shown as peaceful. And the two men are not disturbed by the people around, but by the change to an environment they did not ask for.It might have been good.Contact me with Questions, Comments or Suggestions ryitfork @ bitmail.ch
morganbeckles It tackles topics such as coming of age, sexual exploration, race and class. The acting was pretty good. Had some good cinematic shots and you definitely see the characters develop. The film did have me on my toes at times but there was always some light humour to release the tension. I love how subtle yet impactful some of the moments of emotion were in the film. From the silence, to the cut to black screen with some dialogue still going on. Interesting film to watch. However I do feel that it had the potential to deliver much more. Was missing something, not sure what.
mdorvill-488-396587 This a movie that is let's you into the life of a family moving from New York to a small town in Rome, Washington. It reminds me of the films by Ira Sachs (Love is Strange, Little Men) and I say that as the highest compliment. My favorite part of the movie is the family the movie chronicles and how easily it is to be taken by them. I found myself wanting the movie to be a television show as they create a flawed but beautiful family dynamic that deals with real issues (sometimes not in the best way as what happens in stressful situations). The story itself has elements of big city to small town, racism, the awkwardness of fitting in, and issues with parenting, all dealt with grace (the acting is particularly wonderful by Melanie Lynskey and Nelson Ellis). It'll be hard to peg this film into a certain genre but that's what makes it so wonderful and worth watching. Highly recommend viewing it as it's a magnificently acted, well-crafted story.
rj45 There's nothing particularly wrong with the characters in this film, and the actors portraying them seem to do a good job. There are some thought provoking moments, but overall I found this to be quite a mundane movie. It lacked significant; excitement or action or drama or intrigue or suspense; to engage the viewer.Maybe it would be more interesting for those who can relate to the story-line, but that's not me, so I cannot comment from that perspective. Or it might appeal to art house film goers.Ever the optimist, I watched it to the end, but could have easily fallen asleep as my initial interest waned after about 20 or 30 minutes in.