Little Men (2016) - Ira Sachs

Ira Sachs' Little Men is centered around the conflict between economics and humanity, telling the story of two young boys in Jake and Tony, who slowly see their friendship tested due to a financial conflict between their parents.  The story begins in tragedy, with the death of Jake's grandfather, prompting Jake and his family to move back into their old Brooklyn home. This is where Jake befriends Tony, whose Chilean mother runs the shop downstairs, a space that was previously owned by Jake's grandmother.  With gentrification grabbing hold of the neighborhood and Jake's parents struggling financially, a conflict emerges when Jake's father, Brian, asks Tony's mother to pay more in rent, something which she is reluctant to do herself, due to long history in the space, as well as her own financial burden.  Ira Sachs' Little Men is a film that openly acknowledges the difficulty of the situation it documents, understanding that there is no easy answer to this perpetual conflict between finances and humanism.  The film is well balanced in this regard, being fair in how it characterizes both sides of this disagreement, mainly due to two strong characterizations of both Tony's mother & Jake's father.  Having a close relationship with Brian's deceased father, Tony's mother feels betrayed by the rent hike, as she laments how his father always viewed her as part of the neighborhood.  Her perception is that Brian's father recognized the importance of community and relatioships over money, and the tragedy of her situation stems from her losing her shop, something which she has worked a long time to have in the Brooklyn neighborhood.  On the otherhand, Brian is concerned by his own families current financial situation, being a character who is almost completely bankrolled by his wife, a psychotherapist.  The film hints that his own masculine insecurities, struggling to provide as an Actor, may be the primary cause for his tough stance on Tony's mother, but given the fact that he is being pushed in that direction by his sister too, I'd argue his heart remains constantly in a state of conflict throughout the narrative.  As Brian himself even laments, no one pays the same stagment rent forever, touching on the reality of the world we live in.  While this conflict is quietly festering in the background, much of Little Men chronicles the budding friendship between Jake & Tony, two young men who are both interested in studying the arts, painting and acting respectively.  As the two grow closer together, the parent's financial conflict begins to come more to the forefront of the story, like a dark cloud slowly looming over the healthy, growing friendship between these two young boys.  When the parents scuffle, these boys are immediately torn apart from each other, as the business matter itself reflects poorly on the youthful innocence of these two characters, each of which is only concerned with the humanity of the situation they find themselves in.  This is particularly a tragic series of events for Jacob, an introverted character who tends to have trouble keeping friends.  That is one of the great tragedies of Little Men, with the financial security of his family directly restricting Jake's own ability to maintain his friendship, with both parents being responsible for letting their financial conflict interfere with the importance of their children's friendship.  A film that is well balanced and doesn't pretend to have simple answers to a tough situation, Ira Sachs' Little Men reveals the harshness that can be associated with economics while never being simplistic or unfair in its story of how two parents' financial conflict slowly strains youthful companionship.

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