When Little Criminals was first televised in my area in January of 1996, I taped it....and to this day I still have the tape, and have watched it a number of times. This is an incredibly engrossing movie, with terrific acting by all involved, especially Brendan Fletcher and the late Myles Ferguson (RIP). Fletcher plays Des, an eleven-year-old boy who is already a career criminal. He smokes, does drugs, sets fires, mugs people, steals everything from cartons of cigarettes to guns and automobiles, and (although we don't actually see evidence of it) claims he is sexually active. He lives in an old, dilapidated, roach-ridden house with his neglectful mother. His friend and partner-in-crime is Cory (Ferguson), a basically decent kid who is going through a rather vigorous adolescent rebellion due to his ambivalence towards his new stepfather, stepsister and baby half-brother.
He falls in with Des for awhile, but eventually wises up, near the end of the movie. When Des is finally taken away from his mother, he gets sent to an assessment centre for troubled children. At this point, we get to see what makes Des tick, and it looks as though Des might turn his life around. A happy ending? Sadly, no. This movie has a very downbeat, depressing conclusion, which actually serves to make the movie even more powerful and poignant. A must-see.
He falls in with Des for awhile, but eventually wises up, near the end of the movie. When Des is finally taken away from his mother, he gets sent to an assessment centre for troubled children. At this point, we get to see what makes Des tick, and it looks as though Des might turn his life around. A happy ending? Sadly, no. This movie has a very downbeat, depressing conclusion, which actually serves to make the movie even more powerful and poignant. A must-see.