Stars: Evan Rachel Wood, Michael Angarano, David Gallagher, Vivica A. Fox

Director: Blair Treu

Summary: Emily Lidstrom has set up a business as the neighbourhood 'Secret Keeper'. For a 50 cent fee she gives the chance for the local children to share their secrets and then offers them advice...

Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) is a fourteen year-old violinist who is spending the summer rehearsing for the symphony while her friends are away at camp. She lives in a perfect suburban community, but the other kids in the neighborhood have lots of secrets--secret that they are willing to tell Emily for fifty cents each. For that price, she will take the paper they are written on and lock them in a secret chest for safe keeping. When she befriends a new kid named Philip (Michael Angarano), he tells her a secret, too, but not long after, all the secrets she's been keeping force Emily to come to terms with a secret of her own.

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Little Secretsis a delightful cautionary tale about modern childhood. Blair Treu's film manages to be reassuring about the reality of a world in which kids are perceived to grow up too quickly, without patronising them about the scale and scope of the problems that preoccupy them. At 14, Emily (Evan Rachel Wood) has it all mapped out. Wise beyond her years, she is a musical prodigy who also runs a neat sideline keeping the secrets of the neighbourhood children for a small fee: broken china, kittens hidden in the bedroom, money stolen from dad's wallet to buy his own birthday present. These enjoyable scenes owe a huge debt to Peanuts.

But Emily has a secret of her own, and over one cataclysmic summer the burden of this and all the others she is keeping on behalf of her friends becomes insupportable. Moralising is kept to a minimum as events resolve themselves in a dramatic way and saccharine levels are modest thanks to the determinedly unsentimental performances of Wood, David Gallagher and Michael Angarano. All told this is a pleasing family film of some quality.

On the DVD:Little Secretsmight be a small film, but it has a big picture feel, enhanced by the anamorphic widescreen presentation and a super-clear Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Extras include a good director's commentary in which Treu stresses the childish truths that make the story so touching, a short making-of documentary and a not particularly funny blooper reel. --Piers Ford

Aspect Ratio:	1.85 Wide Screen
Main Language:	English
Region:	Region 2
Special Features:	Audio Commentary, Trailer - 1. Original Theatrical Trailer, Featurette, Blooper Reel
Year:	2002
Release Date:	January 13, 2003
Runtime:	92 minutes
Certification:
Catalogue Number:	C D R 32909
Keywords:	Keeper, Little, General, Secret, Wide, Screen, Secrets, Drama
Genre:	Drama