In "Little Children," the arrival of a convicted child molester in East Wyndam, Mass., triggers outrage throughout the community. But in this movie's reverse code, Ronnie the pedophile (Jackie Earle Haley) is practically one of the good guys. What links the well-to-do residents of the town is a deep-seated frustration. The happiness everyone seeks -- in jobs, marriages, relationships or sex lives -- seems to be missing. They're not so different from folks in other communities, perhaps, but the movie shows how their protests and outrage against public scapegoats are plaintive echoes of their own personal turmoil.

Director Todd Field and co-writer Tom Perrotta have rigged our sympathies, making us root for whoever offends these high and mighty New Englanders. And they've done this in the service of a hugely absorbing social drama that is, by turns, excruciating, sad and sardonic. We're caught up in its emotional sweep, feeling compassion for all the pariahs, including Sarah (Kate Winslet) and Brad (Patrick Wilson), whose extramarital romance provokes gossipy tongues.

There's something irresistibly compelling about the movie's Olympian perspective -- the film employs a narrator -- which puts the flaws, graces and sins of suburbia into ironic context.

Sarah seeks out Brad after her husband, Richard (Gregg Edelman), starts keeping virtual company with a porn site queen. Brad's wife, Kathy (Jennifer Connelly), a documentary filmmaker, belittles him constantly for his failure to pass the bar exam. Winslet is extraordinarily good, transforming persuasively from a woman lost in herself to one radiantly in love. We're moved by the internal struggles she undergoes before allowing herself to feel that ecstasy. As the overgrown kid who'd rather be skateboarding than hitting the law books, Wilson exudes a perfect air of arrested development.

-- Desson Thomson (Oct. 19, 2006)

Contains sex scenes, nudity, violence and profanity.