Los Angeles Times
August 23, 2002
Strong Cast Reveals Aching 'Secrets'
Little Secrets
(Samuel Goldwyn Films)
By KEVIN THOMAS , TIMES STAFF WRITER
Lurking beneath a sentimental surface and a treacly hearts-and-flowers score, Blair Treu's "Little Secrets" offers some genuine substance for youthful audiences.
It's just lamentable that some filmmakers still feel that in the name of wholesomeness, family pictures must take place in perfect-looking, picture-book worlds, fitted out with cutesy-poo kiddies providing comical touches.
Luckily, "Little Secrets" has a sure sense of reality at its core--if often not around its edges--and three talented and accomplished young actors, all TV series veterans, to head the cast, which includes an outstanding Vivica A. Fox in a key adult role.
Evan Rachel Wood stars as a beautiful, poised violinist with a bright future. The young teen lives with her loving parents in an upscale neighborhood, where the little kids so look up to her that she sets up a stand a couple of times a week during summer vacation to hear out their secrets. Invariably, she responds with words of reassurance.
Yet this summer will be different for a number of crucial reasons. First, Emily will acquire a baby sister before the season is over and face an audition with the local symphony orchestra. And then two brothers, Philip (Michael Angarano), 12, and David (David Gallagher),15, who has been off to summer camp, move next door.
Philip is a highly intelligent, challenging youngster whose initially edgy friendship with Emily leads him to tell her a secret that has unintended reverberations for her. She's also becoming jealous of her soon-too-arrive sibling, which makes her increasingly moody and irritable. The neighborhood's renowned secret-keeper has a secret herself that has begun to gnaw at her.
What Treu and writer Jessica Barondes are doing with considerable deftness is asking youngsters--and parents too--to think about the wisdom of keeping the kinds of secrets that do harm to one's self and others.
As Emily's spirits darken, we come to see her secret-keeper role in a new light. The children who trust her are innocents, but much of the advice Emily gives them involves how to cover up minor transgressions and thereby evade trouble. Emily can hardly be said to be corrupting kids, but she is encouraging falsehoods and the avoidance of responsibility.
These small fry are presented as a bunch of eccentric little mini-kooks, apparently for easy, affectionate laughs. It's artificial in effect yet fortunately does not fully undermine Treu's more serious, thought-provoking intentions. Besides conversations with Philip and, later, David, Emily has some discussions with her parents that ring true. Most authentic, however, is her relationship with her violin teacher (Fox), a most impressive role model and mentor.
There are moments when Wood as Emily is a tad actressy, a bit mannered, but she is a radiant talent who carries the film with quiet authority. She and Gallagher are most promising, but Angarano has a wryly quizzical, reflective personality that makes him seem already special. Its greeting card look and feel aside, "Little Secrets" is an otherwise worthy family entertainment.
MPAA rating: PG, for thematic elements. Times guidelines: suitable for all ages.
New York Post
TEEN CHARMER
By MEGAN TURNER
Rating: ** 1/2 [2 1/2 stars out of 4]
August 23, 2002
LITTLE SECRETS
A pleasant little family film.
Running time: 100 minutes. PG (thematic elements). At the Empire, the Lincoln Square, the Village East, others.
THE target demographic for "Little Secrets" is a famously persnickety bunch, but budding adolescents shouldn't find much fault with this pleasantly diverting, albeit formulaic, teen drama.
Evan Rachel Wood (the coltish youngster from TV's "Once and Again," who also appears with Al Pacino in "Simone," in wide release today) carries the film on her slim shoulders as Emily, a 14-year-old violinist who forfeits summer camp to stay home and practice for a symphony audition.
Emily, who lives in a Disneyfied California suburb bristling with gables, picket fences and perfect lawns - where every bike rider wears a safety helmet - also has a profitable little sideline going.
Like Peanuts' Lucy and her five-cent psychiatry, Emily has set herself up in a homemade booth as a "secret-keeper," charging 50 cents to listen to the confidences of neighborhood children.
The secrets range from stolen candy to covertly stashed kittens and, as Emily says, "often involve broken merchandise," but some secrets are harder to keep.
It's a cute idea that functions as a support structure for the understated moralizing that is the true purpose of Jessica Barondes' script, as Emily meets a boy ("Seventh Heaven's" David Gallagher), grapples with her own secret and learns some life lessons.
Apart from some irritating and redundant camera tricks early on in the film, director Blair Treu plays it white-bread straight, delivering an uncommonly inoffensive, after-school-special-style teen flick.
Dallas Morning News
Movie Review
Grade: C+
By JANE SUMNER / The Dallas Morning News
Little Secrets is part familiar after-school special (the director used to work for The Mouse) and part thoughtful feature for teens, one that acts as if the age group just might have a functioning brain.
More of a suburban fantasy than real-world slice-of-life, the small film still manages to capture some teenage talk and emotional concerns.
The family flick again teams director Blair Treu and former Bantam Book ghostwriter Jessica Barondes as scripter. Their Wish Upon a Star enjoyed unprecedented ratings on the Disney Channel.
This time around their collaboration is both feature film and TV movie, bright and corny, witty and sticky, realistic and preposterous.
What keeps Little Secrets afloat is the attractive young cast, especially the three talented leads, all veterans of TV series.
While her girlfriends are off having fun at summer camp, Evan Rachel Wood (Jessie on ABC's Once and Again) stays home to practice her violin for an audition.
An only child, she's also facing the arrival of a late-in-life sibling, and she's not at all eager for the blessed event. In fact, it's a pain for the young musician in a major key.
As a cottage industry, she runs a Secret Keeper biz. For 50 cents a pop, she keeps neighborhood kids' guilty secrets, such as broken family treasures, dispenses advice and salves their little consciences.
When Michael Angarano (Jack's son on Will and Grace) moves next door, she finds a new friend and learns more than she wants to about his big brother, played by David Gallagher (a regular on Seventh Heaven).
With an overload of secrets from family, friends and even her violin teacher (Vivica A. Fox), Evan short-circuits, discovering something about honesty and the consequences of keeping or sharing a confidence.
Director Blair Treu, a film graduate of Brigham Young University, has mostly done family-oriented movies, winning three awards from Indianapolis's Heartland Film Festival, which honors works expressing hope and respect for the positive values of life.
The secret-keeper business is a bit silly and precious, but Ms. Wood invests her character with depth and maturity, and Mr. Angarano, an obvious comer, snaps and crackles as the new kid on the block.
These squeaky-clean kids in their perfect neighborhood will be a turn-off for some. One critic suggested posting a warning for diabetics. Still, it's refreshing to see a teen who cares so passionately about making music instead of passively listening to someone else's sounds.
Published in The Dallas Morning News: 08.23.02
The Journal News
Little Secrets
Reviewed by MARSHALL FINE
THE JOURNAL NEWS
C+
A film too little for big screen
Original publication: 08/22/02
Given the pedigree of its writer and director (whose resumes both sport credits for the Disney Channel), it's no wonder "Little Secrets" feels like an after-school special.
A film about and for young adolescents, "Little Secrets" has made-for-cable written all over it. It may seem odd to see it in a theater, instead of on PAX or ABC Family.
Evan Rachel Wood (who is in "Simone," which also opens Friday, ) plays Emily, a suburban 15-year-old who stays home from camp to practice for a major violin audition. She's also earning a living with her entrepreneurial instincts: She charges 50 cents per client at a backyard booth, where she serves as the neighborhood "Secret Keeper."
When the local kids have done something their parents shouldn't know about, they unburden themselves to Emily. She keeps the information to herself, as well as any evidence (such as a broken piece of good china).
Even as she keeps those secrets, Emily is dealing with her own personal crisis. Her mother is having a miracle baby at the age of 40 and Emily, an only child, isn't handling the loss of her parents' undivided attention very well.
Directed by Blair Treu from a script by Jessica Barondes, "Little Secrets" has heart, as well as a positive meassage: "You can't keep secrets and live a true life." Eventually, the secrets become a weight on Emily's conscience; she must balance her promises of confidentiality against the potential harm of not telling what she knows. The film also delivers a brief lecture on drunk driving, just to give it a jolt of reality.
But it's all rendered with a bland generality that's both unthreatening and uninspiring, except to a 12-year-old. It's not bad filmmaking, just bland.
Still, Evan Rachel Wood captures the passion this girl has for her music. I don't know whether she actually learned to play the violin for the role or knew how beforehand. But she convinced me both of her love for the instrument and of the character's prowess.
Whether she can actually play, will remain one of her "Little Secrets."
Meaningful Message Makes Little Secrets a Gem
By Holly McClure
Movie Reviewer
August 25, 2002
This well-written, wonderful story is one of the more entertaining children's movies of the summer.
Crosswalk.com Entertainment Channel - Little Secrets - PG
Best for: This is a family film all ages can relate to and enjoy.
The plot: Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) is a talented girl who discovers a way to use her gifts to make money while dreaming of being the first chair violinist in the symphony. During her summer vacation, Emily decides to forfeit going to summer camp with her best friends so she can practice for symphony try-outs and make extra money as the neighborhood's trusted "secret keeper." Emily dispenses her savvy advice and helps the kids overcome their dilemmas, hide their deeds and escape the woes of childhood, earning their respect while making a pretty good income. But as Emily tries to solve others problems, she becomes painfully aware of her own issues. Emily resents that her Mom is having a baby and fears that her relationship with her parents will change. She also has a secret about her own upbringing that she wants to keep from her closest friends.
As the summer days drag by, Emily grows more proud of her ability to handle almost any problem. That is until Philip (Michael Angarano) and his older brother, David (David Gallagher), move in next door. Suddenly Emily has a fan of her musical talent and a protege of sorts, as Philip becomes interested music. The two build a unique friendship based on their love of music, but when older brother David returns from summer camp, he takes an interest in Emily. As the two become close, the neglected Philip retaliates by stealing all of Emily's "secret keeping" clientele. Emily's friends turn against her for revealing one of their secrets to Philip, and she's faced with her deepest fears about the symphony. Emily discovers that everyone around her has a secret, and that she's not alone in having to face her fears.
The good: Blair Treu directs this award-winning movie (The Crystal Heart Award at the 2001 Heartland Film Festival) from a screenplay by Jessica Barondes. The story is clever because it takes a universal concept that both adults and kids can relate to and mixes it in with a multi-issue plot dealing with a new baby, being good enough to get a coveted position with a symphony, honesty, the consequences of keeping or sharing a secret, adoption and dealing with the simple fears that grip all of us in life.
The seasoned cast gives this story its charm and ultimately make the characters believable. Wood is impressive as the girl who can play her violin like an angel (she also happens to be starring in another current release, SIMONE, with Al Pacino). Angarano (Almost Famous) and Gallagher (7th Heaven) equally lend their veteran talents to this unique ensemble. This is a family film with something for everyone. The younger teen dilemmas are filled with typical hormonal angst and will connect on a real level with that age group.
The multiple scenes of neighborhood kids confessing their sins, secrets and hidden deeds to Emily are priceless and will entertain your younger ones. I also like the fact that the adults aren't made to be silly or stupid but instead are real characters dealing with real fears (having a baby late in life, being prepared for parenthood, being an older father, communication problems with a teen).
It's rare to find a story that deals with a common theme people of all ages can relate to, but this movie does. The struggle of dealing with secrets in our lives and the dilemma lies can produce is effectively dealt with in a clever way, with redemption, forgiveness and honesty being the real heroes in this story.
The bad: There is nothing bad about this movie.
Offensive language: None.
Sexual situations: None.
Violence: Emily falls off a roof and winds up in the hospital.
Parental advisory: This is a smart and sophisticated family movie that will appeal to all ages. When a story promotes family values, healthy parent/child and friend relationships, honesty, selflessness, forgiveness and even practicing the violin, how could a parent go wrong in taking your kids to see this movie?
It's a wrap: This is a well-written, wonderful story and certainly one of the more entertaining children's movie of the summer. I'll tell you a little secret - this story will tap into the part of you that holds a secret only you know about. It will remind you that there are some secrets that need to be left alone, others that need to be forgiven (and forgotten) and still others that need to be shared with close friends. The real secret to this gem of a movie is its meaningful message, which will make it a family favorite.
E! Online
Grade: C
More ABC Afterschool Special than feature film, Blair Treu's impossibly sun-kissed ode to middle-class virtues is the sort of movie that's bound to provoke fidgeting. Evan Rachel Wood is the perfect daughter of two dim-witted but caring parents. She's pretty, precocious and talented--and she has a thriving little business giving advice and counseling to other teens. (Think Lucy from Peanuts without the malevolence or the football.) But--and don't tell us you saw this coming--Emily has a secret of her own. And it's a whopper. Anyone over 12 knows there's a moral at the end of this tale, so parents hoping to impart the "honesty is the best policy" message will be this film's target audience. For the rest of us, Treu's effort holds few secrets.
movie review by Tony Toscano, Talking Pictures
Rating: FRESH (3/4)
Shot on a conspicuously low budget, the film has a wonderful sensitivity about it making it a nice film to share with the kids. In "Little Secrets" Evan Rachel Wood is Emily, a plucky pre-teen who dreams of being a symphony violinist. Emily is entrusted with her young neighbors' most private and cherished secrets.
Every Wednesday, she sets up a booth in her backyard, which regularly attracts the kids in the neighborhood who confess to Emily their deepest secrets. But the secrets of the secret keeper begin to be revealed in this delightful children's movie.
One of the hardest things to do in moviemaking is produce a film that speaks to adults and children while not talking down to either. "Little Secrets" is such a film. Shot on a conspicuously low budget, the film has a wonderful sensitivity about it making it a nice film to share with the kids.
It gets 3 stars and is rated PG for thematic elements.
'Little Secrets' is no sermon but has a moral
Friday, August 23, 2002
By WILLIAM ARNOLD
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER MOVIE CRITIC
The heroine of the well-meaning but forgettable family film, "Little Secrets," is a 14-year-old Salt Lake City girl (Evan Rachel Wood) who has set up a "secrets booth" in her back yard.
MOVIE REVIEW
LITTLE SECRETS
DIRECTOR: Blair Treu
CAST: Evan Rachel Wood, Michael Angarano, David Gallagher
RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes
RATING: PG
WHERE: Auburn Cinema 17, Bella Bottega, East Valley, Everett 4-10, Grand Cinemas, Issaquah 9, Kent 6, Meridian 16, Parkway Plaza, South Hill Mall.
GRADE: C+
For 50 cents, she listens to kids' secrets, and they line up in droves for the service.
She's also a budding violin virtuoso and a young woman who seems to be unusually resentful and emotionally threatened by the late-in-life pregnancy of her 40ish parents. And, of course, she has a few secrets of her own that help drive the plot.
The movie, which was put together by Disney television alumnus Blair Treu, is a parable in which she learns the moral that keeping seemingly innocent, self-protective secrets is not such a good thing; that, invariably, people suffer from them.
Through the first half of the film, its too-cute and unbelievable premise had me squirming in my seat, and its Utah locations and Treu's Brigham Young University background made me suspicious I might be receiving a thinly disguised Mormon sermon.
But its publicist assures me "Little Secrets" has no secret connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and Treu's sweet-spirited vision of life, and the winning performances of his ensemble of kid actors, gradually broke down most of my resistance.
Pals confide in a girl with her own secret
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
Published: Friday, August 23, 2002
** 1/2 [2 1/2 stars out of 4]
A wholesome little drama aimed at the pre- and early-teen crowd, Little Secrets is set in a frighteningly tidy suburbia of cul-de-sacs and clipped lawns, courteous neighbors, and kids, kids and more kids.
Emily (Evan Rachel Wood - who also appears as Al Pacino's daughter in Simone, opening today) is a gifted young violinist who also has a thriving enterprise. Once a week she opens her "Secret Keeper" business to the neighborhood, where boys and girls with guilty consciences come to seek counsel. Half pipsqueak psychologist, half pipsqueak priest in her makeshift confessional box, Emily advises, forgives and commiserates. (Sample dilemmas: a boy who's broken a parental unit's trusted objet d'art; a towheaded tyke who sneaked a pet kitty into the house, even though there's a sister allergic to cats.)
As it turns out, though, Emily has a burdensome secret of her own. It takes the whole movie - and the arrival of a new family, with two teenage boys (Michael Angarano and David Gallagher) who are both smitten with her - before she's ready to divulge it to the world.
Directed by Blair Treu in a crisp, cute Disney Channel-esque fashion, Little Secrets has life lessons to impart and wastes no time doing so: Drunken driving is bad, keeping things from people you love is bad, feeling jealous and angry over the arrival of an impending sibling is bad. Sometimes the script simply clicks into sermon-mode, but the three principals - Wood, Angarano and Gallagher - are likable enough that they make it all seem sincere.
Vivica A. Fox shows up as Emily's music teacher - a classical violinist who, as it turns out, has (surprise!) a secret weighing down on her. But in a tearful orgy of breast-baring (figuratively speaking - this is a PG-rated movie after all), everybody gets the chance to come clean.
All's well that ends well, as Little Secrets wraps everything up in a neat little bow.
New York Daily News
Take a bow, young Evan Rachel Wood
By JACK MATHEWS
DAILY NEWS MOVIE CRITIC
Who says filmmakers are interested only in negative images of kids? Blair Treu's "Little Secrets" is an uplifting family fairy tale of a movie about children who don't smoke cigarettes on street corners, stick out their pearl-studded tongues at TV cameras or spray-paint your rock wall with graffiti.
These kids are so wholesome, their neighborhood so safe and the moral of their story so clear-cut, that the movie falls somewhere between an episode of "Leave It to Beaver" and a Key Club Success-of-the-Month story.
The focus of that story is Emily (Evan Rachel Wood), a confident teenager whose gangly body appears younger than her 14 years but whose face and world-view are years beyond. She knows who she is and where she's going, and is using her past to ensure her future.
Violinist Emily is busily preparing for an audition for her city's symphony orchestra, but is already good enough to bring a street performer to his knees in awe. She'll win that audition, if she can overcome her intense, seemingly irrational jealousy of the child her mother is about to bear.
Her jealousy has to do with the secret in Emily's past that has led to her pocket-money job as the community Secret Keeper. From her front-yard kiosk, she hears the confessions of guilt-stricken neighborhood wretches and counsels them on avoiding future sins.
Most of the secrets passed on to Emily are of the "I broke my mom's vase" variety, though one overweight boy is squirreling away potentially lethal candy bars in defiance of his parents' orders, and a 9-year-old girl with teen envy is destroying her older sister's love life by flirting online under her name.
For the welfare of her clients, Emily is often tempted to violate their confidences, but as long as her own secret is safe, she feels obliged to protect those who seek her out.
Eventually, during one Emily's many crises, one of her friends will come right out and state the premise of the movie - that you mustn't keep a secret from a friend. This unleashes a semi-funny, entirely mawkish binge of truth-telling, but for those who have actually tried to live by that credo, its merit is dubious, at best.
Still, "Little Secrets" is fairly irresistible hokum. Ward [Wood], who also can be seen starting today in the Al Pacino comedy "Simone," has genuine screen presence and holds our attention against all odds. There's a lot going on inside her precociously pretty head, and the passion that Emily feels for the violin is so evident in Ward's [Wood's] eyes that you never think to look at her hands to see if she's really playing that thing (she's not).
Treu and screenwriter Jessica Barondes may not have their ears to the ground that's trod by real kids, but as they did with their previous film, "Wish Upon a Star," they're allowed to dream.
The Onion A.V. Club
August 21, 2002
cinema/video
Little Secrets
Take the title literally: In the family film Little Secrets, the line "My brother's getting kicked out of tennis camp" counts as a twist on par with "She's my sister and my daughter."
Operating from a whimsy-rich Utah suburb, 15-year-old aspiring violinist Evan Rachel Wood runs a sideline business from a homemade "Secret Keeper" stand, charging 50 cents for neighborhood kids who seek advice and a safe haven for accidentally broken belongings. One girl has begun taking in stray kittens without her parents' knowledge. Another kid has decided to tunnel to China. New neighbor Michael Angarano has broken a piece of his father's antique chess set. As Wood's big audition for the youth philharmonic nears and her family prepares for the birth of a new child, tensions of a sort begin to mount, forcing her to confront a not-too-shocking secret of her own. None of these revelations rival a severed ear or a neighbor with a taste for Nazi dinnerware, but then, Little Secrets takes place in a world so far removed from the typical cinematic suburban dystopia that it would qualify as refreshing if it didn't seem so much like science fiction. Director Blair Treu hails from Brigham Young University, and while there's nothing explicitly religious about Little Secrets, his primary influence seems to be those LDS public-service announcements in which nice people learn to become even nicer. Though pleasant, Secrets doesn't exactly make for gripping viewing, but kids may go for it. Its lessons are familiar, but it delivers them without lecturing.
Better still, a heartfelt performance from Wood -- a promising young actress who's also quite good in Simone -- keeps all the unchecked wholesomeness anchored in a recognizably human world where troubles can't be waved away with a smile, a cup of tea, and a few moments of honest conversation.
-- Keith Phipps
The Phantom Tollbooth
Review by Marie Asner
8/14/2002
**** [4 out of 5 clocks]
Every once in awhile a film comes along that approaches teen years with wit and intelligence. Little Secrets is such a film. Scriptwriter Jessica Barondes had her ear tuned to teens when she wrote a story about Emily who keeps her life happy by keeping other people's secrets and dispensing advice---for a fee. But this girl's advice keeps the perpetrator from facing the truth, something Emily avoids in her own life as well. The film has heart and how long this facade can continue is the heart of Little Secrets that has already received an endorsement from the Heartland Film Festival by breaking box office records at that festival.
Emily (Evan Rachel Wood from television's Once and Again) was the only child in her house, but now Mom is expecting a baby. There are an assortment of children in Emily's neighborhood with one problem in common: no one to talk to about problems, so Emily sets up a booth and charges a small fee to listen to the secrets and offer solutions. This gives Emily something to do, as she stayed home from summer camp to rehearse for an audition. Emily is a gifted violinist with an understanding teacher (Vivica A. Fox from Independence Day) and hopes to someday play with the symphony. Enter new kids in the neighborhood, Philip (Michael Angarano from Music of the Heart) and his older brother, David (David Gallagher from television's Seventh Heaven.) Secrets begin to pile on Emily and before she knows it, the secret keeper is heading for burn out.
The cast makes this film, especially the young actors. There is my favorite, the boy who is digging to China, the girl who rescues cats and the boy who loves candy but all his mother allows him to eat are the chewy rubbery ones. Adults are there as backdrops. Moms and dads are well meaning, but puzzled over their children's behavior.
Little Secrets takes place in a clean town where the houses are brand-new, the window frames are alike, no cracks in the sidewalks and everyone wears a safety helmet when on a bicycle. If you have a goal, such as Emily's symphony aspirations, there is nothing or no one to stand in your way.
Director Blair Treu and scriptwriter Jessica Barondes had previously worked on Wish Upon a Star together. Treu says, "This simple little story really sneaks up on people of all ages. The common theme of honesty and the consequences of keeping or sharing a secret is something we can all identify with."
Little Secrets is much like a made-for-TV movie the family could watch but be aware of the scene where mom goes to the hospital to have her baby. It would be for children ages eight and up. If you remember your childhood and had a big secret you felt you had to share, the movie will bring back those times.
The Phantom Tollbooth
Review by Jeffrey Overstreet
8/19/2002
Director Blair Treu says of his new film Little Secrets, "I feel that if I'm in a position to do something positive, something that's uplifting for families, then I should portray stories and people in a positive, redemptive light. It's not that I want to preach through the medium of film, it should still be about entertainment. That's why people go to movies in the first place. I just happen to think it's nice to walk out of a movie feeling a little better about the world or a little better about yourself than when you laid down your seven bucks."
There are probably many families who will agree that Little Secrets is fine family entertainment. It has attractive people, living in unblemished neighborhood. It's heroine not only has lofty aspirations as a violinist, but she strives to be a trustworthy friend to the crowd of adorable children in her neighborhood. Fortunately for her, these neighborhood kids don't have serious problems. They have bite-sized crises: one broke a piece from dad's antique chess set, another has lied about her age to impress a teen idol over the Internet. These traumas can be solved with a few shed tears, a confession or two, and then... smiles all around. For some, such simple emotional catharses are indeed "entertainment". But Treu is wrong on one point: "That's why people go to the movies in the first place." Perhaps some do. But most moviegoers I know would prefer to see something they haven't seen before, something more complicated than your average Disney Sunday Night Movie where life's problems are simple and are solved with simple answers. And many of us hope to encounter more than just entertainment. Even kids' movies can aspire to the level of art.
My patience wears thin during movie-length doses of this stuff, when there is so much available to families that is richer, more challenging, more complex, more believable, and more rewarding. But I'm measuring this film with the wrong yardstick. This is a film that clearly announces itself as simple sanitized family entertainment. So, I will try to be patient and fair in my review.
For parents seeking entertainment that is "safe" for their kids, Little Secrets has moderate charms. Like an episode of "Touched By an Angel" or an "after-school special," it is filled with smiling and endearing characters, played with enthusiasm by appealing actors and actresses.
Here's the set-up: Evan Rachel Wood (TV's Once and Again) plays Emily Lindstrom, a gifted violin student who has decided to skip summer camp so she can prepare for an audition. She wants to join the San Francisco Youth Orchestra, and is willing to sacrifice time with her friends to practice.
Plus, she has a business to run. Like Lucy running the psychiatry booth in "Peanuts", Emily has a secret keeper's booth in her neighborhood. For 50 cents, she will listen to and keep your awful secret. Kids line up to tell her their secrets, and she helps them by being completely trustworthy, including helping them hide whatever priceless family heirlooms they have broken. Of course, keeping secrets is a virtue as long as one does not become an accomplice in dishonesty. Emily's confidentiality agreements lead her straight into two, three...ten... serious moral dilemmas, and of course they will all be sorted out in the end. So it's no surprise at all when we learn Emily has a secret of her own that trumps them all. Thus Emily becomes a kind of meddling heroine, like a modern day Emma.
Kudos to Writer/Producer Jessica Barondes for having the guts to create a teenage heroine who loves classical music and who aspires to be a symphony violinist. Will thousands of Britney-wannabes be able to relate?
Further, I applaud Barondes's efforts to give teens a story about the danger of secrets. While most of the secrets in this movie are fairly tame, a lot of teens carry around huge, heavy, burdensome secrets that they would do well to learn to share.
I was also impressed to see a "family movie" in which black characters are as important... and as much a part of everyday life... as their Caucasian counterparts. Vivica A. Fox plays the pivotal role of the violin teacher with a subtlety and a grace that can't be found in the rest of the movie. Recent genre attempts to "mix it up" have only shown how much white filmmakers tend to stereotype folks of other colors and cultures. This film has two African Americans who are not treated differently or given many "cultural cliches" to utter.
Treu shows a remarkable stylistic restraint here, resolutely refusing to borrow rapid-cut editing or any of the other trendy effects to make her movie "cool". He keeps it old-fashioned, right down to the virtues and the excessively weepy finale.
Unfortunately, the restraint he shows in style is not carried over into storytelling. Little Secrets is like ten Disney Sunday Night Movies in one, with all ten tear-jerking, sentimental climaxes happening at once. The last half-hour is a marathon of culminating crises, and, in the spirit of TV movies, all of these one-dimensional characters walk away with their loose ends tied up and their Happily Ever After fate sealed. Will the badly-injured character pull through? Will Emily be able to pursue her dream? Will the little boy who lied finally tell the truth? Do you suppose the pregnant lady might have her baby before it's all over? Do you suppose the two appealing teens will notice that they both spend their money at The Gap, and thus they are a perfect match?
It would have been interesting if the film had explored some of the ideas that would have been more challenging to kids. How did Emily develop into an ambitious violinist instead of a trendy high school flirt? How will her young neighbor David get over his hopeless crush on her? How do children who have lost their parents work through the grief and loneliness? This story, however, is interested in easier-to-solve problems.
It also might have been more compelling if Emily had been given some rough edges. She remains too angelic, too much every mother's dream daughter to be very compelling, at least to this viewer. There is no smudge in her makeup, not a hair out of place. (No, that annoyingly constant dangling strand of blonde is obviously quite deliberate.) As serious as she is about her violin, Emily keeps one foot firmly planted in Barbie-land. She's as immaculately kept as her neighborhood, which must be surrounded by constant cop patrols because there is never a moment of tension, nary a drifter or a lowrider or a loud stereo or a beer bottle by the side of the road. No one in this town ever smokes. None of them have scars. And they're all fairly wealthy.
A couple of characters develop interesting personalities-- most especially Michael Angarano as Philip, the quirky young neighbor boy who has a crush on Emily. Angarano, who was wonderful in his role as the young William in first fifteen minutes of Almost Famous, gives Philip guts. He steals the film from Wood, giving a third-act confession scene real energy and emotions that are earned.
Philip and his family have just moved in next door, and Philip knows that if Emily meets his cocky, stylish older brother, then his chances to win Emily's heart are zero. Will Emily go against the grain and fall for a nobler soul, even though he is younger?
Are you kidding? The teenage girls in the audience want to see Emily win the handsomest boy around. This is a family movie about a teen, so you can bet your seven dollars that there's going to be a "first kiss" before this is over, even if it has very little to do with the main plot.
As the film enters its final 30 minutes, you should either get the box of Kleenex, if you're the sentimental type, or run. There are an impressive number of emotional dilemmas to be resolved. And they are all resolved, in the traditionally teary fashion, full of confessions and reconciliation and embraces. I anticipated all but one, a rather audacious third act emergency that raised the stakes significantly.
So, all in all, Treu and Barondes have accomplished their goals. They have made an easy-to-swallow, "feel-good" entertainment that will please moviegoers seeking such things. Good morals are loudly affirmed, good kids have their frowns turned to smiles, and sexy good girls have their dreams come true. It's better made than a lot of such movies, and you'll certainly get more tears for your dollar.
But if you want "family entertainment" that has surprises, memorable characters, and less sentimental epiphanies, this year has offered The Rookie, with its complex characters and powerful parable. The animated Lilo and Stitch, Stuart Little 2 and Ice Age have also risen above their genre's demands. It frequently amazes me how cartoon fantasies have become far more gutsy, entertaining, and relevant than most live-action family dramas. If you find one that breaks the trend, please let me know.
If you have seen the movie, then you might want to think about these questions. (If you haven't, the questions won't be worth much.)
Nagging question #1:
Will teenage girls really relate to Emily? Or will they just want to be her? After all, she has what "family entertainment" says is a "perfect body," meaning she looks like she survives on a diet of fruit juice, and her hair and skin are always perfect. She has a full makeover, shiny and unsmudged even when she's in a damaged and weepy state. It's not bad to have a heroine that makes you aspire to be a better person, but Emily plays so perfectly into the Britney mold... super-skinny supermodel who gets the sexiest boy in town... I'd be worried that the film would throw fuel on the fire of any insecurity complexes.
And it's not just Emily...
Nagging question #2:
Will teenagers be able to relate to the picture-perfect world she lives in, or the neighborhood full of cute nice friendly children?
Very few filmmakers are making movies that show they have an awareness of the realities kids face daily. For a far more honest picture of contemporary teen life, check out John Stockwell's discomfortingly honest crazy/beautiful. For a perspective on the lives of kids who aren't "blessed" enough to live in a 90210 neighborhood, check out the recent George Washington.
Nagging Question #3:
Are these parents really so admirable? I liked Barondes's willingness to develop the characters of Emily's parents. While Emily seems smarter than them, they do have some believable, valid anxieties about parenthood. But I wondered if they would really let Emily talk back to them at the dinner table without some kind of disciplinary response. They certainly don't know much about her. And they let her run around town with a neighbor boy she's just met without a second thought. This seemed strange.
Nagging Question #4:
And what about poor Philip? Such a cool kid. Such a tragic hero. His unrequited love is treated rather comically, but I really felt for the kid. Emily's passions are treated seriously, but Philip's are not. That's because his passions would require a risk on the part of the storyteller if they were to be fulfilled, and his disappointment would be an emotional loose end that would have required even greater contrivance to tie up.
On second thought, maybe Philip deserves better than Emily... someone with a unique personality, someone less predictable, someone whose standards for guys are higher than Gap-Boy. Now there's a story worth telling.
* 1/2 [1 1/2 out of 5 clocks]
Jeffrey Overstreet writes regular reviews, news, and essays on the arts and Christian perspectives at the Looking Closer web page and in The Crossing, a magazine for Christian artists. He is also the editor of a weekly column at ChristianityToday.com called Film Forum, and he is a founding member of Promontory Artists Association. You can contact Jeffrey at Promontory@aol.com.
Shaun Sages' Movie Navigator
Review by Shaun Sages
** [2 stars out of 4]
14-year old violinist Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) offers an exclusive service for neighborhood kids. For an affordable 50-cents each, she'll listen to secrets and conceal broken household items, which is a great way for to avoid getting grounded. But when the secrets get too unruly, can she remain confidential or squeal to the dozens of unsuspecting parents? That's Emily's dilemma in Little Secrets, a 7th Heaven-like parable aimed towards the WB generation. While the film has elements to keep adults interested as well, it'll mainly appeal to teens who'll be too busy buying tickets for XXX to care about Disney-channel suburban do-gooders that don't resemble any teenagers I've ever met.
What high-school freshman would rather spend their summer at home honing their instrumental skills than enjoy summer camp with friends? Emily is such a girl. Teaming up with Phillip (Michael Angarano), the new kid on the block and next-door neighbor, the two form a close friendship to prevent summer boredom.
But Phillip is two years younger than his cooties-carrying friend, which makes way for his tennis playing 15-year old brother, David (David Gallagher of WB's 7th Heaven). A love triangle between Emily and the two brothers would be interesting, but director Blair Treau opts to tell a moralistic tale.
For a harmless family film, with an expected positive message, Little Secrets has its mature moments that deal with such topics as underage drinking (uncommon for a PG flick). Actually, it's surprising the movie received its soft rating when in one scene, Phillip asks another kid, "Are you high?" Although the question is asked rhetorically, parents might find such language objective and unsuitable for their child. After all, this is a movie specifically designated for parent-child viewing.
With its compilation of talented young actors, and a standout performance by Wood (also playing Al Pacino's daughter in this week's Simone), Little Secrets does have some treats for those who've already gone through puberty. Angarano, who played young William in Almost Famous, does an amusing out-of-nowhere breakdance after learning a Mozart tune. Vivica A. Fox has a short part as Emily's violin teacher, making us wonder how such an actress goes from playing alongside Will Smith to settling for unnoticeable roles.
Though there are mature themes involved, such as Emily dealing with her pregnant parents and the effects a younger sibling will have, for the parent-child audience, this movie is relatively enjoyable and less painful than what kids drag their moms and dads to see; surely no more so than Pokemon. Despite the handful of laughable cliches, Little Secrets serves its purpose as an acceptable family outing.
LITTLE SECRETS
Review by: Ryan Kugler
8/17/02
*** [3 stars out of 5]
If parents can get their kids (especially their daughters) to take a chance on a small film that doesn't feature any Hollywood stars and doesn't contain state-of-the-art special effects, they'll be in for a little (no pun intended) treat. Granted, I'm not the target audience for Little Secrets, but I appreciated it for what it was -- an unpretentious and well-meaning film with positive messages, the likes of which have been severely lacking in family films of late.
Emily (Simone co-star Evan Rachel Wood) isn't your typical movie-teenager. She's smart and likable and is passionate about things other than boys and getting into trouble. Being as ambitious as she is, Emily decides to skip out on summer camp with her friends, so she can stay at home and practice the violin for an upcoming audition with the local symphony.
Playing the violin is what drives Emily, but her other gift, and the thing that makes her so well respected by the neighborhood kids, is her ability to keep a secret better than anybody else. Capitalizing on this gift, she runs a booth where the kids line up and pay her to keep their secrets. Emily has a whole system worked out, and all of the kids trust her with information regarding anything from email fraud to shoplifting to the discovery of fossils in the backyard.
When a new family moves into the neighborhood, Emily gets involved in a brother/sister kind of friendship with Philip (Michael Angarano, young William in Almost Famous), a smitten kid that welcomes her secret keeping services. The two become inseparable, but things change when he tells her a secret having to do with why his older brother David (David Gallagher) just got kicked out of camp. This triggers something in her, and she immediately distances herself from her new best friend.
With her mom about to give birth, the audition getting closer and the return of David and her girlfriends, Emily's pressures are growing and her once peaceful and stress-free summer is becoming a little too much for a teenager to handle. To make matters even worse, some of the secrets that she's supposed to keep are starting to get out, including a major one of her own.
The story of Little Secrets is strictly afterschool special material, but the nice direction by Blair Treu (especially in the Slacker-like opening introduction to the neighborhood) and the central performance by star-in-the-making Wood, elevates it into something a little better. It does get a bit too melodramatic as it progresses (as one issue begins to pile up after the next) and the last ten minutes are pretty contrived, but this is a family film dammit, and happy endings and tidy wrap-ups are to be expected.
FilmJerk.com
Review: Little Secrets
By Edward Havens
[08/23/2002]
I know how you feel. After a summer of genetically enhanced clones, a guy bitten by a radioactive spider, the nuclear destruction of Baltimore, aliens in lingere, aliens hding in crop circles, an extreme sport spy, surfer chicks from Maui, Kung Fu Matt Damon and a variety of other forms of sensory bombardment disguised as entertainment, you want to throw up your hands and scream at the Movie Gods "Would it not be too much to ask for something small, pleasant, inoffensive and enjoyable by the entire family?" If this is where you are right now, the Gods have answered your prayers with this delightful new film from the team of director Blair Treu and writer Jessica Barondes.
Once and Again's Evan Rachel Wood stars Emily, a talented young violinist who must stay at home for the summer to practice for her big symphony audition while all her friends are off at camp. Amongst the other children in the neighborhood, Emily is known as the Secret Keeper, one who, for the small fee of fifty cents, will listen to your worst problems and help you as best she can. When a new family moves into the house next door, Emily befriends Philip (Michael Angarano, from Almost Famous), who is slightly younger but instantly smitten with Emily. Also falling hard is Philip's older brother David (Seventh Heaven's David Gallagher), who has but one brief encounter with Emily in a mall before he is shipped off to tennis camp, neither one aware they are neighbors. Of course, Emily has some secrets of her own, and as the summer unfolds, complications arise that will challenge friendships and cause Emily to rethink her priorities and make some changes in her life.
What saves this movie from being little more than an overblown afterschool special are the three delightful young leads. Freed from the histrionics that usually accompany their heavy handed television shows, Ms. Wood and Mr. Gallagher make for a charming, winsome duo. Their characters are real young teens, who handle their problems not with hamfisted agitation or explosions of anger, but with geniune thoughtfulness. And, of course, it doesn't hurt that both are cute as a couple of buttons. Mr. Angarano is also a revelation, showing his little triumph is Cameron Crowe's previous film was just a preview of things to come.
As with most movies aimed at a family audience today, there are topics touched on and dealt with in this film including friendship, first love and teen drinking. It is a credit to the filmmaking team that these topics are dealt with in a respectful manner, yet never allowing the story to become overbearing. This is simply good filmmaking, and deserving of your attention.
I give Little Secrets gets an A for effort and an A for execution.
Mr. Cranky Rates the Movies
*** [3 stars out of 5]
(SPOILERS)
This film was one of those rare instances where the studio informed me of its screening and I had absolutely no idea what they were talking about. The reason, I discovered, is that when Nickelodeon rejects a film for its cable channel, it gets sent to the graveyard of late August releases to die a quiet death.
Evan Rachel Wood stars as Emily, a girl so precocious she makes Mary Kate and Ashley look like poster children for fetal alcohol syndrome. Emily is a master violinist who has her heart set on playing in the symphony. On the side, she also runs this weird little neighborhood business that involves charging little kids money so that they can tell her their secrets. So, basically what you've got here is a neighborhood where everybody has secrets and everybody is going to learn that secrets are bad.
Before that happens, the new kid on the block, Philip (Michael Angarano) starts following Emily around. He's 12 and she's 14 and she's already made googly-eyes at Philip's older brother, David (David Gallagher). Unfortunately, Philip tells Emily a secret about David involving drinking which sends Emily into a rage. Emily also plays her violin while sitting on the roof. Somebody comments that they don't want her to fall off the roof. Thus, we have several mysteries. First, why does Emily get all huffy over some drinking? Two, when will Emily fall off the roof?
Incidentally, we also know that Emily is adopted, which is her big secret that she's keeping from everyone. After Emily falls off the roof, she reveals to David that she's adopted and that her parents were killed by a drunk driver. Inspired by Emily's tale of woe, everybody in the neighborhood reveals their secrets (at Emily's behest) and the entire town is saved from a lifetime of privacy. Consider for one moment, an entire movie in which everybody is keeping secrets. In my neck of the woods we have a name for these people: liars.
Frankly, if I had spent time watching this thing as an afternoon special when I was nine, I would have considered it an insult.
Kids-in-Mind
[This is a Parents Evaluation, not a Review.]
A gifted 14-year-old violinist (Evan Rachel Wood) has given up summer camp with her friends in order to get ready for her audition with a prestigious youth orchestra. She also keeps busy as the neighborhood "secret keeper": for a nominal 50 cent fee she'll keep any child's secret, including incriminating evidence such as broken china, bric-a-brac, etc. Eventually, however, she discovers that keeping secrets can be much costlier. Also with Michael Angarano, Vivica A. Fox, David Gallagher and Danielle Chuchran. (1:47)
SEX/NUDITY 3 - A 15-year-old young man and a 14-year-old young woman kiss. A young woman kisses a young man on the cheek. A young man touches a young woman's hair, and a young man moves closer to a young woman while they talk and she pulls away. A young man and a young woman look at each other admiringly and flirt. Two young men talk about a young woman being pretty. A young woman looks longingly at a poster of a man several times (the poster appears to have a lipstick outline of a kiss on it). A 9-year-old girl writes romantic e-mails to an older boy pretending that she is 14, and she's dressed in jewelry and grown-up make-up. A young man talks to a young woman via videotape, and makes a reference to her "developing" and throws her kisses. Young women wear mini-skirts and some tight-fitting outfits.
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - A young woman falls from a rooftop and lands on the ground below; we see her neck in a brace as she is wheeled away on a stretcher and we see a bandaged cut on her forehead later. We hear that a man and a woman were hit head-on by a drunk driver and were killed; their baby in the back seat of the car was spared. There are a few conversations about young men stealing a car, driving after having beer (it's not clear whether they were intoxicated) and hitting another car head-on and injuring the driver of the other car. A young man grabs another young man by the shoulder, drags him away from a party and yells at him. A young woman becomes overwhelmed (she looks unnerved) by the sound of crying babies while in a store. A young woman and her parents argue a few times. A woman goes into labor and we see her pushing during delivery and hear her moaning; we see the baby at the time of delivery covered with some goo. A young man makes the gesture for gagging (finger in his mouth). We see a sonogram image of a baby in the womb and see the mother's bare abdomen during the test. We see lots of broken crockery and other fragile items.
PROFANITY 1 - 1 mild obscenity, 2 mild anatomical terms, 2 biological references and some name-calling.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Secrets, trust, truth, family, adoption, aspirations, having babies later in life, quitting, shoplifting, credentials, competition.
MESSAGE - Keeping secrets about yourself and others will lead to trouble.
(Note: A man and woman open a bottle of champagne, but we don't see them drinking it. There is a strong "don't drink and drive" message.)
ChildCare Action Project (CAP): Christian Analysis of American Culture
Entertainment Media Analysis Report
A service to our youth through you, their parents and grandparents, in His name by His Word
Analysis Date: August 25, 2002
CAP Score: 85
CAP Influence Density: 0.27
MinMax: -69
Note that this is an unusually long Summary/Commentary. Please be patient.
Little Secrets earned a CAP Final Score of 85 at the top of the scoring range for PG movies (86 to 68 out of 100) in the CAP comparative baseline database of movie scores. But there are some "issues." More as you read on.
Fourteen year old Emily (Evan Rachel Wood - Simone PG-13) has a secret. And Emily keeps secrets. Everybody's secrets. For 50¢. The Story opens with a view of Emily's "Secrets Keeper" stand which, on the surface, looks much the same as Lucy's "The Doctor is In" stand of Charlie Brown(tm) fame. But behind the stand is a beaded curtain and lots of color much like the stereotype of the Gypsy seance chamber. Here, Emily provides a service to the kids in this middle class neighborhood who bring her their secrets for safe keeping.
Promising to never never tell anyone Emily takes their secrets, which are typically broken objects of value which the kids wish to hide from somebody, most often their parents, and stores them in lunch bags in a footlocker. She gets 50¢ for every secret she keeps. Emily also offers advice on how to handle personal, family and social friction. Her advice is often wise but clearly above the level of experiential maturity possessed by the typical 14 year old.
Emily stayed home from going to summer camp with her friends who miss her dearly. Emily wanted to fine tune her violin skills in hopes of becoming the First Chair Violin of the local symphony Orchestra. By the way, Miss Woods is apparently an accomplished violinist in real life. But in staying home Emily finds friction, or maybe creates friction of her own. Emily's mom is pregnant and Emily is about to become the second child of one. The movie, if after the level of "issues" revealed you decide it is acceptable, will explain "the second of one." I do not want to spoil too much of the movie for you if you decide to watch it.
The coming of a baby means Emily will no longer be the only child. Emily expresses a great deal of animosity about the new baby and how her parents think of nothing else. Not even her. At least, that's the way it appears to the 14 year old Emily. Maybe that is the way a lot of older brothers and sisters feel about the coming of a baby. Maybe we parents could take from Emily's reaction a signal to be sensitive to how the older kids feel about a new baby in the family.
After a number of other episodes of daily life in the suburbs comes Emily's new next door neighbors, 15 year old "hunk" David (David Gallagher) and 12 year old brother"Fill-it-up" Philip (Michael Angarano). While moving in, Philip breaks a valuable chess piece belonging to his father. In a mad scramble to hide his careless but age-appropriate fumble David tries to bury the broken chess piece in Emily's mother's flower garden then lies to his family about it, blaming the missing chess piece on the movers. As if lying and no regard for private property were not bad enough, Philip acts as though "Who are you to tell me I can bury this in your property." But rather than shame her new neighbor Emily tries to help Philip mask his culpability by bringing him into her parent's home (while her parents are gone, of course) to store his secret. Oh, by the way. A hopeful budding romance is building, at least by Philip for Emily. Emily already has a few buds for David - until she finds out about his secret.
In the process of cohorting the "crime", Emily becomes a fine hostess and serves tea with her mother's finest china tea set. In another careless but age-appropriate fumble, David demolishes one of the china tea set cups. Not to worry. The freshly pubescent planning pair will just go to the big city alone to buy a new tea cup rather than tell the truth, hoping the replacement of the family heirloom with a substitute will not be discovered.
And there is painted a thread that jumped out of the screen to the CAP analysis model. I read a couple secular reviews of Little Secrets and a couple from Christian websites before starting this Summary/Commentary and noticed something glaring in each of them. They each quite nicely lauded the movie as a model for morality, friendship, loyalty and other fine character qualities (which it is in many ways) but none of them said anything of substance about the most prevalent presence in the movie -- lying and deceit. How many of us know the seven behaviors God specifically says He hates in Proverbs 6:16 - 19. The first one is arrogance/impudence (haughty eyes, proud look). Another is a lying tongue. Yet another is feet that be swift in running into mischief. And in Revelation 21:8 God warns sternly of disastrous consequences for "all [unforgiven] liars." Granted, children before the age of accountability are blessed but is it okay to show them in and as entertainment that such lying as in Little Secrets has no consequences or is morally invisible within the subject age stratum [Luke 17:2]? I have yet to find any Scripture which says under which situation or condition a lie is not a lie. God has some quite disturbing things to say about liars [Rev. 21:8 and many others]. Please be certain your tykes understand that a lie is a lie no matter the conditions. There is no justification to make slight of God's Word in the name of entertainment. Even if a lie would save someone, the sin is on to whom the lie would be spoken.
The lying and deceit in Little Secrets can indeed be a contender for your child's behavior choices and inherently his/her coping skills, integrity and self respect. While the lying and deceit were a "necessary" part of the plot, the plot does not excuse sin. Nothing does. Jesus will forgive all our sin but He will not excuse any. Not even that of the prostitute. He forgave her of her sin [John 8:2 - 11] but He did NOT excuse it. He even reminded her of the sin of prostitution as she left - "Go and sin no more."
Little Secrets is a fine piece of work about morality and ethics, friendship and loyalty, and several other quite noble personality characteristics IF the "redeeming" programming is fully incorporated with the needs for it. I [subjectively] found Little Secrets delightful and close to home for this family. I say close to home" because it deals also with adoption (how I will not explain to prevent completely spoiling the movie for you) and my wife and I have adopted seven of the 23 foster kids we've cared over eleven years who had no place to go. But fortunately the delight I found in Little Secrets is insulated from the CAP analysis model.
But the purpose of this ministry is not to tell you all about the story or to tell you about all the "redeeming" properties a movie presents. Whether a movie has "redeeming" qualities is up to you. The purpose of this ministry is to tell you the truth about the content of movies - the truth the MPAA and advertisers won't or can't tell you - so you can make an informed decision whether a movie is or is not fit for your kids.
All too often the "redeeming" properties in a movie are lost or obscured by the unwholesome presentations. Especially for the young and impressionable. There may be an armada of social, emotional and other filters in the path of an observed/witnessed influence on its way to the brain of the impressionable child that by the time it gets to the brain all that is left of the total picture is the surface of it. The American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and others have proven that negative influences in and as entertainment such as violence in movies can and do influence aggression in youth even if there are consequences presented. Harvard educated child developmental expert, Dr. Karen Nelson and professional counselor, Dr. Larry Gillaim agree with me that any behavioral expression, good or bad, can be shaped by observation of behavior in entertainment. Doctor Nelson and Dr. Gilliam also agree with me that it would be unusual for even a 16 year old to be able to fully comprehend the consequences of his/her actions or to be able to fully separate fantasy from reality. Those capabilities do not typically plateau until the early twenties. Even God Himself warns of "bad company" influencing good manners [1Cor. 15:33].
I do not want to paint a bleak picture of this - er - picture, but I most assuredly want you to know the truth about its content. Discovering the good content is up to you if you decide the ignominy we reveal is acceptable for you and/or your family. Informing you of the negative content in accordance with His Word is what I do so you can make an informed decision on your own whether a movie is fit. And after analyzing more than 600 secular movies, most of them rated R (most movies made are rated R), my delivery is sometimes overly emphatic. So, I am going to "break with tradition" and give you an example of some of the powerfully touching programming in Little Secrets. Remember I told you above about "Fill-it-up" Philip breaking a valued chess piece then sneaking to hide the truth from his father and lying to blame the breakage on someone else? Well, after the redeeming programming began, Philip gathered the broken pieces and returned them to his father in a scene that would have melted the Grinch's heart. Michael Angarano may very well have been the best expressionist of the cast.
While this film is quite filled with arrogance against parental authority, lying and deceit and advising deceit against parents (thus the low score in Impudence/Hate), there was NO foul language but two uses of God's name in vain without the four letter expletive. No murder or suicide. No drinking, drunkenness, smoking or use of illegal drugs. And the only sexual matter was an innuendo when a same-aged boy spoke of Emily "developing." The only issues of violence/crime were a boy stealing $20 from his father's billfold, shoplifting and a great fall with injury. The joyfully short listing in the Findings/Scoring section reveals all that was found.
As my final point in this quite l-o-n-g Summary/Commentary, I remind our readers that while the Summary/Commentary is precisely that - a summary in commentary format - and can be and sometimes is subjective, the Findings/Scoring section is completely objective to His Word and does not compensate the scoring for "redeeming" properties filmmakers sometimes insert to excuse aberrant behavior and imagery. To allow "redeeming" programming to excuse aberrant behavior in and as entertainment is too close to the dangerous "Go ahead and do the wrong as long as you are sorry for it" syndrome. While I say above in this Summary/Commentary "IF the 'redeeming' programming is fully incorporated with the needs for it", the Findings/Scoring section is sterile and impersonal and is totally objective. Only in that way can you be assured our analysis reports are credible and reliable, capable of giving you the information you need to make your own decision whether a movie is or is not fit for your kids (or yourselves) without having to watch it first to know.
CAP Score (based on content): 85
(100 is the best possible score, meaning the film lacks offensive content in a specific area.)
Wanton Violence/Crime (W): 87
Impudence/Hate (I): 31
Sex/Homosexuality (S): 97
Drugs/Alcohol (D): 100
Offense to God (O): 93
Murder/Suicide (M): 100
Examples per hour:
Wanton Violence/Crime (W): 2.4
Impudence/Hate (I): 11.2
Sex/Homosexuality (S): 0.6
Drugs/Alcohol (D): 0.0
Offense to God (O): 1.2
Murder/Suicide (M): 0.0
Wanton Violence/Crime (W):
Plugged In magazine (Focus on the Family)
as published in the September 2002 issue of Plugged In
Summer is full of loud, busy, soulless distractions. And that's just at the movies. So it's an unexpected pleasure to encounter a sweet family film like Little Secrets (PG), an adolescent morality tale about friendship, integrity and how hiding brokenness hinders healing.
Like Lucy doling out psychiatric help to Charlie Brown, a gifted, 14-year-old violinist named Emily (Wood) offers a service to the children of her upscale neighborhood. She keeps secrets. She stores broken items (the evidence of childish irresponsibility). For fifty cents, her young clients ease their consciences and get advice on topics ranging from petty theft to Internet dating. But deceptions leave messes. She's faced with ethical dilemmas. Meanwhile, Emily's own deeply guarded secrets threaten to boil over as she deals with the stress of a new baby entering the family.
"You can't keep secrets about yourself and lead a true life," a trusted music teacher tells Emily, "and you shouldn't encourage others to do the same." So she takes bold steps to set kids straight. And confession proves to be good for the soul. The film also makes solid statements about loyalty, family relationships, forgiveness and the consequences of driving drunk. Except for a mild crudity or two, there are no unpleasant surprises.
In limited release nationwide, Little Secrets is a little movie with a big heart. There's no A-list talent, but the performances are sincere and enjoyable (especially Angarano and the tots cast as Emily's clients). Technically, it has the feel of a WB after-school special. If only the network's teen-oriented fare was this positive.
eFilmCritic.com
Reviewer: Eric D. Snider (same as his review in the Utah County Daily Herald)
Orlando Weekly
[NO REVIEW]
'Little Secrets'
Review by Richard Nilsen
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 23, 2002 *** [3 stars out of 5]
Little Secrets is a little film, targeted at a niche audience, and what it lacks in pizzazz and depth, it attempts to make up for in sincerity and sweetness.
Its niche audience is families, your Ward-and-June, Touched by an Angel kind of family. This isn't necessarily a bad thing; fantasy is a big part of what makes Hollywood go.
Think: On one side, you have Roseanne, the Bundys, the Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle. On the other you have the families of Little Secrets, all well-scrubbed, obedient kids and attentive, understanding parents.
Evan Rachel Wood portrays 13-year-old Emily, who wants to play violin in a symphony. She practices a lot. In her spare time, she has a lemonade stand where she listens to neighborhood kids divulge their deepest, darkest secrets, which she pledges never to reveal. These secrets, by the way, are all of the "I broke a teacup" variety.
When new neighbors move in, the younger son (Michael Angarano, Jack's son from Will and Grace) takes a shine to Emily, although she takes a shine to his older, more dangerous brother, David (David Gallagher). Dangerous, in this case, means that he once drank a can of beer at summer camp.
Emily gives advice to the youths on her block and keeps all the secrets tightly wrapped up inside her - along with her own secret.
It all comes to a heartwarming conclusion, of course, as her violin teacher (Vivica A. Fox) tells her, "You can't keep secrets about yourself and still lead a true life."
For many moviegoers, Little Secrets will be hard going. But for those looking for uplifting, family-oriented entertainment, you could do worse than this film. It is tightly scripted and competently made - it even has a few cinematic fillips in store - and well-acted. And if you are at all prone to reach for a hankie, this film is for you.
One Guy's Opinion
Review by: Frank Swietek C-
Entertaiment Weekly
Lisa Schwarzbaum
Long, lean, silky-haired Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Al Pacino's exceptionally mature teenage daughter in "Simone," plays a similarly poised young person in Little Secrets, a movie for young persons that teaches gentle lessons about when to keep quiet -- and when to speak up. (Crib-sheet summary: Don't blab other people's confidences, but do open up to others, because trust and intimacy are more important than perfect hair.)
Wood, from TV's "Once and Again," plays Emily, a 14-year-old budding violinist, elegant as an old-time debutante, who runs a backyard business in Suburbia, USA, as the paid keeper of local kids' minor-infraction confessions -- which are theoretically cheaper to deposit with an older kid than with a parent. That she exhibits a sense of confidence, fashion style, and makeup expertise far beyond anyone else in the neighborhood is beside the point: Emily's own deep secret has to do with her place in her own family, of particular sensitivity because her mother, now pregnant and breathtakingly self-absorbed, is ridiculously stupid about her daughter's feelings. The kids in this syrupy family picture are spunky tykes and the adults are dolts, but Wood is worth watching because she's so clearly ready to play nobody's girl but her own. EW Grade: C+
(Posted: 09/05/02)
'Little Secrets' lives in its own contrived little world
Pittsburg Tribune-Review
Ed Blank
13 September 2002
** [2 out of 4 stars]
A beautiful 14-year-old violin prodigy named Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) falls off a roof in "Little Secrets."
Her mishap occurs so out of nowhere that it betrays the desperation by screenwriter Jessica Bardones to make something -- anything -- happen that might motivate sympathy and disclosures.
Her fall is the biggest problem in a picture set in an unspecified suburban community that somehow has its own symphony orchestra, one that is so competitive that Emily's tutor, Pauline (Vivica A. Fox), lost her job as third-chair violinist after five seasons.
The children in Emily's community have such high respect for her nurturing skills that they queue up weekly, like an old-fashioned Catholic confessional line, to pay 50 cents to confide her in their deepest secrets.
One chubby boy steals candy from a store even though his heavy-set mother is willing to buy it for him. Another child hides a piece of knickknack pottery he broke. Yet his parents are so swell. The naughtiest child sends naive come-hither e-mails to her older sister's pen pal.
Emily vows secrecy but keeps a dossier envelope on each child in a trunk.
Around the time the flawless Pauline tells her, "You can't keep secrets about yourself and lead a true life, Emily," the perfect Emily blurts out that she's -- Oh no! -- adopted.
The truth is preferable to secrets, the film emphasizes. But has anyone in this myopic town ever had a whiff of the dirty laundry aired on syndicated TV shows from "Jerry Springer" to "Judge Judy"? Is telling all always best?
But then, the adolescents and teenagers in "Little Secrets" aren't real. They're smartly clothed, immaculately scrubbed, privileged stick figures whose mirage-like problems are never so great they can't be erased with a hug.
Wholesomeness is one thing, vapidness another.
Director Blair Treu achieves a professional look without finding a moment of truth. Nothing feels natural, beginning with an ensemble of mostly child actors who are all too obviously acting and adults who are given a single face to wear.
The absence of objectionable elements in a family film is laudable but is not in itself a reason to invest 100 minutes that could be better spent with a good book or a classic movie.
Pittsburg Post-Gazette
Nice drama is a break from the sensational teen fare
Friday, September 13, 2002
By Scott Mervis, Post-Gazette Weekend Editor
*** [3 out of 4 stars]
Remember "Secrets & Lies," the 1996 Oscar-nominated film about a family bursting with all the information it was suppressing?
"Little Secrets" is the kid version.
In the early going, we see how fun secrets can be. Evan Rachel Wood plays Emily, a 14-year-old violin prodigy who runs a "Secrets Kept" booth, not unlike Lucy's in "Peanuts," for the kids in her cushy suburban neighborhood.
For 50 cents you can unload your secret and/or store pieces of your parents' china, chess set or whatever else you've broken. One little boy is a budding kleptomaniac; one kid is digging to China in his back yard; another is trying to be too grown-up for her own good. Emily can keep a secret because, we're told, she has one of her own she's hung onto since childhood.
With her friends at summer camp and Emily homebound to rehearse for her audition with the youth symphony, she strikes up a friendship with the new boys on the block (Michael Angarano and David Gallagher) and various crushes ensue.
Eventually, the secrets begin to pile up to the point where Emily can't stand the weight of them anymore.
Far from the happy meal kid fare that's served up over the summer or the Freddie Prinze Jr. teen series, "Little Secrets" is a wholesome, thoughtful character drama that plays out like a really good "Afterschool Special." You even get Mendelssohn instead of Smash Mouth.
Wood, from "Once and Again," and Angarano, from "Will & Grace," are appealing young stars who work up a good chemistry. It leaves you wondering what she sees in Gallagher, the orange-haired heartthrob from "7th Heaven." Vivica A. Fox also elevates the material as the violin teacher with a secret of her own.
"Little Secrets," which does come on a bit strong with its message of honesty and openness, is devoid of the bells, whistles and bathroom humor of the "event" movies. And therein lies its charm.
Little Secrets
Sentimental, tear-jerking moments pile-up in this well-intentioned big screen version of an old-fashioned after-school special.
a revised review by Jeffrey Overstreet
Copyright 2002 by Jeffrey Overstreet.
Reproduction is forbidden without permission of the author. Contact Jeffrey Overstreet at promontory@aol.com.
For parents seeking entertainment that is "safe" for their kids, Little Secrets has moderate charms. Like an episode of "Touched By an Angel" or an "after-school special", it is filled with smiling and endearing characters, played with enthusiasm by appealing actors and actresses. These characters live in an unblemished neighborhood, where everyone has bite-sized problems that can easily be resolved with a few kind words, an embrace, and some tears. If this sounds like a compelling way to spend two hours in a theatre, help yourself. Or, you can wait for Sunday night's Wonderful World of Disney and save your dollars for something more memorable and rewarding.
Here's the set-up: Evan Rachel Wood (TV's Once and Again) plays Emily Lindstrom, a gifted violin student who has decided to skip summer camp so she can prepare for an audition. She wants to join the San Francisco Youth Orchestra, and is willing to sacrifice time with her friends to practice.
Plus, she has a business to run. Like Lucy running the psychiatry booth in "Peanuts", Emily has a secret keeper's booth in her neighborhood. For 50 cents, she will listen to and keep your awful secret. Kids line up to tell her their secrets, and she helps them by being completely trustworthy, including helping them hide whatever priceless family heirlooms they have broken. Of course, keeping secrets is a virtue as long as one does not become an accomplice in dishonesty. Emily's confidentiality agreements lead her straight into two, three... ten... serious moral dilemmas, and of course they will all be sorted out in the end. So it's no surprise at all when we learn Emily has a secret of her own that trumps them all. Thus Emily becomes a kind of meddling heroine, like a modern day Emma.
Kudos to Writer/Producer Jessica Barondes for having the guts to create a teenage heroine who loves classical music and who aspires to be a symphony violinist. Will thousands of Britney-wannabes be able to relate?
Further, I applaud Barondes's efforts to give teens a story about the danger of secrets. While most of the secrets in this movie are fairly tame, a lot of teens carry around huge, heavy, burdensome secrets that they would do well to learn to share.
I was also impressed to see a "family movie" in which black characters are as important... and as much a part of everyday life... as their Caucasian counterparts. Vivica A. Fox plays the pivotal role of the violin teacher with a subtlety and a grace that can't be found in the rest of the movie. Recent genre attempts to "mix it up" have only shown how much white filmmakers tend to stereotype folks of other colors and cultures. This film has two African Americans who are not treated differently or given many "cultural cliches" to utter.
Treu shows a remarkable stylistic restraint here, resolutely refusing to borrow rapid-cut editing or any of the other trendy effects to make his movie "cool". He keeps it old-fashioned, right down to the virtues and the excessively weepy finale.
Unfortunately, the restraint he shows in style is not carried over into storytelling. Little Secrets is like ten Disney Sunday Night Movies in one, with all ten tear-jerking, sentimental climaxes happening at once. The last half-hour is a marathon of culminating crises, and, in the spirit of TV movies, all of these one-dimensional characters walk away with their loose ends tied up and their Happily Ever After fate sealed. Will the badly-injured character pull through? Will Emily be able to pursue her dream? Will the little boy who lied finally tell the truth? Do you suppose the pregnant lady might have her baby before it's all over? Do you suppose the two appealing teens will notice that they both spend their money at The Gap, and thus they are a perfect match?
It would have been interesting if the film had explored some of the ideas that would have been more challenging to kids. How did Emily develop into an ambitious violinist instead of a trend-following high school flirt? How will her young neighbor David get over his hopeless crush on her? How do children who have lost their parents work through the grief and loneliness? This story, however, is interested in easier-to-solve problems.
It also might have been more compelling if Emily had been given some rough edges. She remains too angelic, too much every mother's dream daughter to be very compelling, at least to this viewer. There is no smudge in her makeup, not a hair out of place. (No, that annoyingly constant dangling strand of blonde is obviously quite deliberate.) As serious as she is about her violin, Emily keeps one foot firmly planted in Barbie-land. She's as immaculately kept as her neighborhood, which must be surrounded by constant cop patrols because there is never a moment of tension, nary a drifter or a lowrider or a loud stereo or a beer bottle by the side of the road. No one in this town ever smokes. None of them have scars. And they're all fairly wealthy.
A couple of characters develop interesting personalities -- most especially Michael Angarano as Philip, the quirky young neighbor boy who has a crush on Emily. Angarano, who was wonderful in his role as the young William in first fifteen minutes of Almost Famous, gives Philip guts. He steals the film from Wood, giving a third-act confession scene real energy and emotions that are earned.
Philip and his family have just moved in next door, and Philip knows that if Emily meets his cocky, stylish older brother, then his chances to win Emily's heart are zero. Will Emily go against the grain and fall for a nobler soul, even though he is younger?
Are you kidding? The teenage girls in the audience want to see Emily win the handsomest boy around. This is a family movie about a teen, so you can bet your seven dollars that there's going to be a "first kiss" before this is over, even if it has very little to do with the main plot.
As the film enters its final 30 minutes, you should either get the box of Kleenex, if you're the sentimental type, or run. There are an impressive number of emotional dilemmas to be resolved. And they are all resolved, in the traditionally teary fashion, full of confessions and reconciliation and embraces. I anticipated all but one, a rather audacious third act emergency that raised the stakes significantly.
So, all in all, Treu and Barondes accomplish their goals. They deliver an easy-to-swallow, "feel-good" entertainment that will please moviegoers seeking such things. Good morals are loudly affirmed, good kids have their frowns turned to smiles, and sexy good girls have their dreams come true. It's better made than a lot of such movies, and you'll certainly get more tears for your dollar.
But if you want "family entertainment" that has surprises, memorable characters, and fewer sentimental epiphanies, this year has offered The Rookie, with its complex characters and powerful parable. The animated Lilo and Stitch, Stuart Little 2, Ice Age, and especially Spirited Away, have also risen above their genre's demands. It frequently amazes me how cartoon fantasies have become far more gutsy, entertaining, and relevant than most live-action family dramas. If you find one that breaks the trend, please let me know.
THE REPORT CARD
Jeffrey's Rating: C-
A predictably sappy "after-school special" movie in which an annoyingly glamorous teen heroine learns that it is dangerous to keep secrets, and that a good looking boy makes far-better boyfriend material than an average-looking, trustworthy, interesting boy.
PARENTAL NOTE: Caution. Underhanded tearjerking tactics and an unrealistically clean and happy world.
Is the film honorable?
It has honorable virtues on its mind, but goes about teaching its lessons in a predictably sappy way. If you think "Touched By an Angel" is high art, you'll want to give this movie an Oscar.
Is the film artfully made?
Michael Angarano turns in a fun, sturdy performance that stands out in a mass of treacle and sentimentality.
How effective is the film at what it sets out to do?
It wants to make the young girls cry and sentimental parents smile. It probably will.
Is the film worth our time, money, and effort to see it?
It's worth what you'd pay to see a Sunday night made-for-television Disney family movie.
Did I enjoy it?
I endured it.
Little Secrets
Haro Online
It almost feels bad criticizing a movie like Little Secrets, because it's heart is in the right place. Director Blair Treu (The Brainiacs.com, Wish Upon a Star) and writer Jessica Barondes (Wish Upon a Star) do their best to make a 'family' movie, but like most other 'family' movies, this does not mean it is good. Usually, it means that it is patently inoffensive and has a good moral lesson. What it is missing is a broad appeal across all ages, so that the entire family can sit together and enjoy it. It is probably a little to preachy for children, and a little to simplistic for adults. Treu and Barondes never take any chances with the material, going for a very straightforward approach to tell the message that it is not good to keep secrets from friends.
The primary secret keeper is Emily (Evan Rachel Wood, Simone, Practical Magic). She has a little stand in her yard where she charges fifty cents to keep the secrets of neighborhood children. Her guarantee is that she will never divulge a secret to anybody. What the kids don't know is that she has her own secret she is hiding from them. It's summertime, and for once, Emily is not at camp with her friends. She is practicing violin everyday in preparation for the symphony tryouts. Although she is very good, her parents just don't seem to understand her. Her mother is pregnant, and Emily is resentful of her upcoming sibling. Her new neighbor Philip (Michael Angarano, Say Uncle, Almost Famous) is infatuated with her, as is his brother David (David Gallagher, Phenomenon, Richie Rich's Christmas Wish). They each have their secrets also. This summer, Emily finds that all the secrets she knows become a liability. She knows things that she should tell, but she cannot. When events begin happening, all these secrets snowball together and effectively ruin her life.
Wood is a talented up-and-coming actor, and can certainly fake the violin with style, but it is her character that needs work. In order to redeem herself at the end, Emily comes off as somewhat of a jerk. The script even has her telling children how to hide their mistakes. It is to help them, but doesn't come off too well since she is telling them to lie. Once Philip tells her something about David, she refuses to try to befriend him. It is all for a very specific reason, and it's pretty easy to guess what it is long before Treu reveals it. The same goes for her 'secret.' The worst thing that Treu does is what most directors rely on in movies like this. He uses a certain deus ex machina that ruins a tempo that is beginning to build. This is the catalyst that drives everything together in the end, but Little Secrets really didn't need to use it, since it was actually moving along rather nicely.
It feels like many missed opportunities. Little Secrets is probably one of the more child-friendly movies in recent memory. There is very little material that people can even possibly construe as objectionable, and only a moron can miss the lesson that Treu and Barondes are trying to tell. However, they opt for whatever is safest, which means they do what everybody else did before them. This makes for a movie that plays like connect the dots, so it becomes duller than it otherwise should be. All of the younger actors are there primarily for their cuteness factor. Vivica A. Fox (Juwanna Mann, Two Can Play That Game) makes an appearance as Emily's violin teacher. It makes one wonder why Fox keeps trolling around in stupid comedies instead of opting for better roles, which she seems to do less these days. She does a fantastic job here, but she has much too little screen time to make a difference.
Mongoose Rates It: Okay.