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Little Secrets: A Secret Too Well Kept
by Thomas C. Baggaley
Near the end of August, with almost no promotion or fanfare, a film called Little Secrets was sent to theaters nationwide by Columbia TriStar Pictures. You have to question the timing of the film's release. Here was a film whose three principal characters were all in their early teens, that was chiefly being marketed as a film for children, and yet it was released at the very same time that target audience was heading back to school. Predictably, the film did not fare well at the box office, and probably before most people even heard about it, Little Secrets was gone.
Evan Rachel Wood in Little Secrets
This was truly a travesty, because Little Secrets is one of the best family films to be released in recent years. Happily, it is now out on DVD and video, so if you missed it during its all-too-short theatrical run, you get a second chance.
The film stars Evan Rachel Wood (also seen in TV's "Once and Again") as a 14-year-old girl named Emily who has a seemingly harmless little business as the neighborhood "secret keeper," charging a 50-cent fee to share and keep the younger neighborhood children's secrets. Emily is also a gifted violinist and has stayed home from summer camp to prepare for an audition with the prestigious San Francisco Youth Orchestra.
With her regular group of friends gone for most of the summer, Emily befriends her new next-door neighbor, a 12-year-old boy named Philip -- played by Michael Angarano ( of TV's "Will and Grace"). Emily's parents are expecting a baby, and Philip has a very cute older brother named David (David Gallagher of TV's "Seventh Heaven"), making the prospects for the summer even brighter. But, of course, things don't turn out quite the way Emily expects, and she soon finds that keeping secrets is not necessarily the innocent game it at first appeared to be.
This is an absolutely charming film. One of its strengths is the way that it portrays the children as real, complicated people, capable of intelligent thought and genuine feelings. Parents will be especially pleased because it is an enjoyable film for viewers of all ages, both children and adults. In fact, although they may start watching the film expecting something geared to children, many adults will soon find themselves quite involved in the story. Don't be surprised if you find yourself laughing out loud and yes, squeezing out a few tears too, before the film is over.
The script by Jessica Barondes is absolutely wonderful. Wood delivers a surprisingly subtle performance and is especially impressive in the scenes where she plays the violin, very believably portraying the poise and skill of a young prodigy. (Most people would not be able to tell that she cannot actually play the violin herself.) However, it is Angarano who absolutely steals the show. He has an extremely expressive face and his performance is very entertaining to watch.
LDS director/producer Blair Treu shows absolute mastery working with children, and even the younger children are relatively relaxed and seem to be enjoying themselves. Since the film was shot entirely in Utah, much of the cast and crew is LDS, and viewers will recognize several familiar faces from local Utah productions among the adult actors, including Jan Broberg Felt (Bug Off!), Rick Macy (Out of Step, Brigham City, Testaments), and Tayva Patch (Out of Step, Brigham City, Testaments), all of whom deliver wonderful performances in supporting roles.
LDS viewers will also recognize LDS celebrity Kurt Bestor, whose picture is found all over the place in the film because Emily has a juvenile crush on the "middle-aged composer" (as one character refers to him). Interestingly enough, the very well done music for the film was actually written by LDS composer Sam Cardon, not Bestor - and yes, there is also a "Samuel" Cardon reference in the film, so he doesn't get left out.
Strictly speaking, this is not LDS cinema, however, because despite being filmed in Salt Lake City, the characters are not LDS - although they easily could have been. Perhaps more importantly, Little Secrets fills a niche that most Hollywood films abandoned long ago. It is a good, wholesome, yet entertaining film. In speaking about Little Secrets and family-friendly films like it, Treu often refers to its audience as a segment of society that has nearly stopped going to the theaters altogether, because the kind of films they feel good seeing just aren't being made any more.
If that's the case, then if you only bought one video or DVD this year, and you wanted something good for the whole family, you could do a lot worse than buying Little Secrets.
The DVD includes several special features, including a fun audio commentary by Treu and Barondes, blooper reel and a "making of" featurette - not an overwhelming amount of extras, but enough to please those hoping to get some insight into the thought processes that went into making the film. Little Secrets is rated PG for "thematic elements", but really it could have just as easily gotten a G rating.
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About the author - Film composer Thomas C. Baggaley received a master's degree in music from UCLA, where he studied film scoring with highly regarded composer, Jerry Goldsmith. He recently released a CD of inspirational music titled "Spirit of the Sabbath", which is available at Deseret Book and LDSvideostore.com. Thomas is also the co-webmaster of LDSfilm.com, a research web site about LDS films and filmmakers. Thomas's upcoming film scores include music for "unfolding" - a film by award-winning LDS filmmaker Christian Vuissa - and "The Land of Nephi" - a documentary starring Sharlene Wells Hawkes about archaeological discoveries in Southern Mexico and Guatemala that date to Book of Mormon times. He is a husband and father to three wonderful children and serves as the teacher development coordinator in his ward.
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