Art house: in Ira Sachs’ Little Men, gentrification sabotages friendship
New York-set film tests the notion that ethics crumble in the face of life’s difficulties, especially if financial again is involved; it tells the story through two teenage boys driven apart by the family of one raising the rent on the other's store
Gentrification is a global evil, as poor tenants are pushed out of their homes by rich landlords in search of greater profits. Little Men (2016), by the well-regarded American indie director Ira Sachs, isn’t afraid to make that point, even if the theme is somewhat softened by a slew of sympathetic characters who generally want to do the best they can. The film shies away from taking political positions, but still reflects the complex nature of making decisions in the real world.
Like many US indie films, Little Men is more about characters than concepts, conveying its message in microcosm rather than espousing any big ideas about social inequality. Although all the characters get a chance to weigh in, the story’s mainly told through the eyes of two 13-year-old boys.
When the epicene Jake’s (Theo Taplitz) middle-class family move into the apartment of his dead grandfather, the shy boy is enlivened by the friendship of the outspoken Tony (Michael Barbieri), whose Chilean mother rents the store downstairs. Trouble arises when Jake’s pleasant but weak-willed father, Brian (Greg Kinnear; As Good as It Gets), is persuaded by his sister to raise the rent on the store to a level that Tony’s seamstress mum can’t afford. The two boys try to ride out an increasingly unpleasant situation, but the hard realities that arise are difficult to surmount.