Review: Tame indie ‘Little Boxes’ treats a multiracial family’s move to the suburbs with a light touch
In “Little Boxes,” a city-dwelling family finds itself transplanted to suburbia, ill-equipped to handle the culture shock. Melanie Lynskey and Nelsan Ellis play Gina and Mack, a married couple — she’s a photographer, he’s a writer — and parents to the quietly nerdy Clark (Armani Jackson). Their multicultural life in Brooklyn is lovingly sketched out in an opening sequence.
Though it looks Utopian, Gina, desiring stability and health insurance, has taken a job at a college in a small town in Washington state. Soon the family members find themselves in their huge new house, waiting on their moving truck, getting to know their new neighbors and colleagues.
Written by Annie J. Howell and directed by Rob Meyer, “Little Boxes” is almost anthropological in its dissection of the cultural quirks of suburban life. There is an unsettling fixation on race that pervades every new interaction with the interracial family. While Mack is profiled by his new neighbors, Clark’s new classmates are fascinated by the diversity he brings to their lily-white burg. The racial discourse is never pushed far enough to be humorous or biting — just awkward.
Lynskey, Ellis, and Jackson are charming enough to buoy this lightly dramatic tale, but with a laid-back energy the stakes are never quite high enough. “Little Boxes” offers tame social commentary in a pleasant package.
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‘Little Boxes’
Not rated
Running time: 1 hour, 24 minutes
Playing: Laemmle Music Hall, Beverly Hills
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