Little Manhattan

This topic contains:

• overall comments and recommendations
• details about Little Manhattan's classification and consumer advice lines
• a review of Little Manhattan completed by Young Media Australia (YMA) on 16 March 2006.

Overall comments and recommendations

While some of the scenery shot around Manhattan is visually appealing, the story of Little Manhattan is not particularly interesting and would hold little appeal for adults.

About the movie

This section contains details about the movie, including its classification by the Office of Film and Literature Classification (OFLC) and the associated consumer advice lines.

YMA review

This review of the movie Little Manhattan contains the following information:

• a synopsis of the story
• themes
• use of violence
• material that may scare children
• product placement
• sexual references
• nudity and sexual activity
• use of substances
• coarse language
• the movie's message

A synopsis of the story

A lot of Little Manhattan is in narrative form, describing Gabe's feelings for his friend Rosemary. Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) is ten and three quarter years old and all his life he has hated girls until one day he joins a karate class and sees Rosemary Telesco (Charlie Ray), whom he has known since kindergarten, in a completely new light. Gabe begins to feel the pressure of ‘first love' and with it the roller coaster of emotions and self doubt. To complicate Gabe's life further, his parents Adam (Bradley Whitford) and Leslie (Cynthia Nixon) are getting a divorce. Neither wants to move out of the apartment however, as they both want to be with Gabe, so he has to cope with his mother going out with other men. Rosemary's family are quite rich and she will soon be leaving for summer camp and then on to private school. Gabe therefore doesn't have much time to tell Rosemary how he feels.

Themes

Children and adolescents may react adversely at different ages to themes of crime, suicide, drug and alcohol dependence, death, serious illness, family breakdown, death or separation from a parent, animal distress or cruelty to animals, children as victims, natural disasters and racism. Occasionally reviews may also signal themes that some parents may simply wish to know about.

Family breakdown.

Use of violence

Research shows that children are at risk of learning that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution when violence is glamourised, performed by an attractive hero, successful, has few real life consequences, is set in a comic context and / or is mostly perpetrated by male characters with female victims, or by one race against another.

Repeated exposure to violent content can reinforce the message that violence is an acceptable means of conflict resolution. Repeated exposure also increases the risks that children will become desensitised to the use of violence in real life or develop an exaggerated view about the prevalence and likelihood of violence in their own world.

There is some bullying in this movie by a large older boy at school of whom everyone is scared. In one scene, the boy throws a football at some younger children knocking them out. He then picks on Gabe and Rosemary for being in his territory, and Rosemary attacks him using karate and knocks him down. The boy later recovers and chases after the others on his bike.

Material that may scare children

Under eight

Children under eight are most likely to be frightened by scary visual images, such as monsters, physical transformations, the death of a parent or child abandoned or separated from parents, children or animals being hurt or threatened and / or natural disasters.

Apart from the bullying incident described above, there is nothing particularly scary in this movie.

Over the age of eight

Children aged eight to thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic threats and dangers, violence or threat of violence and / or stories in which children are hurt or threatened.

Children over the age of thirteen are most likely to be frightened by realistic physical harm or threats, molestation or sexual assault and / or threats from aliens or the occult.

There is nothing in this movie that would scare children aged eight to thirteen.

Product placement

The product ‘Pepsi' is displayed in this movie.

Sexual references

There are no sexual references in this movie.

Nudity and sexual activity

There is no nudity or sexual activity.

Use of substances

There is no use of substances.

Coarse language

The movie contains infrequent use of: ‘My God', ‘Oh God' and ‘For God's sake'.

The movie's message

The movie is about first love and the lasting impression it makes. It doesn't have any take home message. Parents may wish to discuss with their children the use of karate as a means of self defence. It could also give them the opportunity to discuss the impact on children of their parents separating.