Little Heroes

Written and directed by Clyde Craig (who also stars in the film) Little Heroes is an affecting family drama about 10-year old Charley Wilson (Raeanin Simpson) and her best friend--Fuzz, her dog. Dirt-poor farmers, the Wilson's are acutely aware of the social structure within their small town, and arguments about money and social ostracism between the elder Wilson's are frequent and bitter. Charley, on the other hand, is happy to play with Fuzz (though she longs for acceptance from the town girls.) When a particularly well-off classmate of Charley's invites her to a birthday party, the girl's mother steps in and rescinds the invitation (we eventually find out that there's more to this snooty and initially loathsome mother than meets the eye.) Although it starts out slow, and never moves beyond a certain curve of predictability, Little Heroes does tend to grow on you over the course of the first hour. You root for Charley, and laugh as she and Fuzz find entertainment and happiness without electronic toys. However, towards the end of the film, a huge clue is dropped that all may not end well...and the finale does indeed bear a resemblance to that classic Disney tearjerker Old Yeller. While I don't advocate breaking the hearts of young children on a regular basis, I think the media has become overly zealous in its perceived need to shield young children from emotional involvement in a story. The high sugar content of so many programs for children stem, I believe, from two lines of thinking: 1) children wield a lot of consumer power (and you don't bum out the consumer), and 2) there are enough dangers to kids in our society that we don't need to add fictional fuel to an already raging real fire. Ergo, it's rare to see a movie today that not only challenges children on an emotional level, but also encourages them to have strong feelings. Without being sensational, Little Heroes shows children (rather than merely telling them in a sugar-coated moral fashion) that losing a loved one is part of the human condition. Recommended. (R. Pitman)