American philosopher William James said that, "Reality, life, experience, concreteness, immediacy, use what word you will, exceeds our logic, overflows, and surrounds it." This statement is especially true for children whose goals and dreams are subject not only to the real problems they face but are in part determined by their parent's ability to handle their own life. Ira Sachs affecting drama, Little Men, looks at life from the point of view of two young men on the cusp of adolescence whose friendship is threatened by a family squabble that has no easy solution. Co-written by the director and Mauricio Zacharias, the film follows on the heels of Sachs' 2014 Love is Strange, the story of a gay couple and how they are forced to vacate their New York City residence as a result of gentrification, a theme that plays also role in Little Men.

13-year-old boys, Jake (Theo Taplitz),a non-observing Jew and Tony (Michael Barbieri),who goes to Catholic school, are drawn together when Jake's parents, Brian (Greg Kinnear) and Kathy (Jennifer Ehle),move into an apartment in Brooklyn vacated by the death of Jake's grandfather. The apartment is located above a dress shop owned by his grandfather's long time friend, Chilean seamstress Leonor (Paulina Garcia, "Gloria"),who has been paying a lower rent as a result of their friendship. The boys possess exceptional artistic talent. Jake is a painter who hopes that his portfolio will land him in the LaGuardia School of the Performing Arts, even as his drawing of yellow stars against the background of a green sky is dismissed by his middle-brow, middle-school teacher.

Compared to the sensitive Jake who keeps to himself and has few friends, Tony, an aspiring actor, is outgoing with excess energy to burn, a dynamo whose best scene is a back and forth exchange with his drama coach, an exercise in letting go of restraint and reaching for full self-expression. Speaking rapidly with a Brooklyn accent, Tony, who wants to join Jake in the LaGuardia School, puts on a good act of being on top of things but the sadness stemming from the lack of a father in his life is visible. One is reminded of the Nigerian poet and novelist Ben Okri's reflection that, "the need to create art is often connected to a need to heal something." Brian informs Leonor that he has to triple her rent because his acting roles bring in little money and he does not want to have to completely rely on his wife's income. Though he tries to reach an amicable agreement, his position strengthens Leonor's intransigence and encourages Brian's sister (Talia Balsam) to push for her eviction in order to bolster the family's income. As their families bicker, Jake and Tony try their best to stay away from the conflict, riding their roller blades and scooters around the neighborhood with joyous abandon to the energizing score of Dickon Hinchliffe suggesting that this moment of their youth will last forever. Unfortunately, however, their parents only dig in their heels, Leonor snarkily asserting that she was closer to Brian's father than he was and Kathy tells Leonor that she is trained in conflict resolution though she does not offer any such resolution.

As Jake and Tony's friendship becomes strained, they embark on their secret weapon - the silent treatment - but the children's weapons against their more powerful parent's ends, as it often does in heartfelt tears. Little Men is a thoughtful and moving film that contains some of the year's most honest and nuanced performances from Taplitz, Barbieri and Kinnear. There are no villains in the film and each character has what is on the surface a reasonable position, but what is lost is the compassion to step back and see things from a broader perspective, one that transcends immediate needs.

Brian shows some awareness of this when he breaks down in tears while alone, suggesting that looking out for one's own self-interest while admirable in many respects may cut us off from relationships we cherish. Little Men operates on several levels. It is about gentrification and class interests, but its most potent message is about the miracle of friendship and coming to terms with growing up. Jake and Tony have found the kind of friendship that is rare for any age. Though they are different people with different interests, they have a bond that is akin to love, one that, like other attachments in life, will not last even though it will always contain moments so real that they may forever remain etched in the core of their being.

"Little Men" is an American co-production with Greece and Brazil that resulted in a (mostly) English-language movie from last year 2016, so it is a pretty new movie still. It is relatively short, does not even come close to the 90-minute mark and it's the newest work by writer and director Ira Sachs. This is basically the story of two boys who become friends despite being relatively different in terms of character, ethnicities and backgrounds. One of them is the son of a couple that just moved in the husband's dead father's house and the other is the son of a Hispanic single mother working hard to make a living. Now this mother has a shop on the first floor at this house and the deceased rented it to her for a really tiny amount of money. The new tenants explain to her that she will have to pay more because they (or at least the dad) are facing financial struggles as well. Unluckily for everybody, the woman cannot keep her business if she has to pay considerably more rent each month from then on. A really complicated scenario.

This also has a major impact of course on the relationship between the boys. or does it really? They still stick together, but maybe they also do not really know in depth about the situation. I think the film scores a lot through its authenticity and I never felt that I was watching actors. Oscar nominee Kinnear and Paulina García (brilliant in "Gloria) have some moments in which they really shine and the film scores a lot through its realism and it's easy for the audience to hope the parties can solve their issues and be it only because of the boys' friendship. A try-hard movie would have included parts about the girl of interest for one of the boys having possibly an interest in the other, but not so this one here. The drama never feels for the sake of it and the friendship feels very real. Of course, the boys' interest in acting creates an even stronger bond with Kinnear's character working in the same profession as well. Actually he appears in a stage play where he plays a film writer, so this is basically acting about acting about acting. Now, enough of that. It is a very essential movie (also with the ending) that has strong focus and solid elaborations and I enjoyed watching it from start to finish. If it plays anywhere near you, go see it. You won't be disappointed. On a final side-note, Alfred Molina (always nice to see him),a lead actor in Sachs' previous, plays a smaller part in here as well.

A touching tale of two teenage boys. Jake (Theo Taplitz) moves into his new Brooklyn home with his parents left by his late grandfather.

Downstairs is a shop run by a seamstress Leonor (Paulina Garcia) also owned by the grandfather. Her son Tony (Michael Barbieri) welcomes Jake to the neighbourhood and immediately become firm friends as bot like laying video games and have an interest in the arts.

It might be that Jake harbour romantic feelings for Tony who is more interested in girls.

What gets in the way is that Leonor payed little rent on her lease. Now Jake's dad Brian (Greg Kinnear) wants to increase it, after all rents in Brooklyn have gone up. This causes conflict between the two parents.

This could had been a sweeter film. It is good to see a movie about true friendship. The story about the adults was underdeveloped. They were all passive/aggressive. Leonor was certainly spiky and I even ended up having sympathy for Brian and his sister. To cap it all the resolution was flat. Maybe the Chekhov themes in this movie went over my head.