Little Secrets
Samuel Goldwyn Films | Release Date: August 23, 2002 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
52
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 19 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
10
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
The film is upbeat, wholesome, chirpy, positive, sunny, cheerful, optimistic and squeaky-clean. It bears so little resemblance to the more complicated worlds of many members of its target audience (girls 4 to 11) that it may work as pure escapism. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleJonathan Curiel
The plot twists in Little Secrets sustain the movie when it gets a bit too schmaltzy. This excess of cuteness and sentimentality won't be a flaw to moviegoers in the mood for it. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldChristine Dolen
It's a beguiling exploration of friendship, trust, truth, insecurity and, yes, secrets. Read full review
70
The New York TimesDave Kehr
Sunny, pleasant, squeaky-clean family film in which nothing surprising happens, and that is the point. Ms. Wood has a poise and wistfulness beyond her years, and she seems likely to follow the path of the child star Diane Lane into more nuanced adult roles. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesKevin Thomas
Its greeting card look and feel aside, Little Secrets is an otherwise worthy family entertainment. Read full review
63
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
A wholesome little drama aimed at the pre- and early-teen crowd. Read full review
63
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Treu and screenwriter Jessica Barondes may not have their ears to the ground that's trod by real kids, but as they did with their previous film, "Wish Upon a Star," they're allowed to dream. Read full review
63
New York PostMegan Lehmann
Apart from some irritating and redundant camera tricks early on in the film, director Blair Treu plays it white-bread straight, delivering an uncommonly inoffensive, after-school-special-style teen flick. Read full review
60
New Times (L.A.)Bill Gallo
A teen-anxiety movie that leaves no doubt where it stands on "family values" and moral absolutes: It approves. The shock troops of the Cinema Without Limits army are unlikely to buy many tickets, but those who do will probably see the thing as sanctimonious pabulum -- even for its target audience of adolescents.
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The kids in this syrupy family picture are spunky tykes and the adults are dolts, but Wood is worth watching because she's so clearly ready to play nobody's girl but her own. Read full review
58
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
Treu's sweet-spirited vision of life, and the winning performances of his ensemble of kid actors, gradually broke down most of my resistance. Read full review
50
Village VoiceLeslie Camhi
The film's broad performances and heavy-handed moralizing strike a note of condescension sure to be heard by the alienated teenager within us all. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubKeith Phipps
Director Blair Treu hails from Brigham Young University, and while there's nothing explicitly religious about Little Secrets, his primary influence seems to be those LDS public-service announcements in which nice people learn to become even nicer. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorDavid Sterritt
A genuine PG, gentle and wholesome almost all the way through. It's not a great movie, but it should attract family audiences. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneLoren King
One can hardly argue with the desire to make a wholesome movie for families that extols honesty and decency, but it all comes too easily, too superficially. Read full review
40
VarietyScott Foundas
What you end up with are a bunch of kids acting not like kids, but how adults who've lost all sense of what it was like to be a kid think kids behave. Read full review
40
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The film is dull going, even for the pre-adolescents at whom it's aimed, and feels far longer than it actually is. Read full review
40
L.A. WeeklyAmy Nicholson
Despite its extraordinary theme, the film wades again and again into the kind of ordinary territory befitting its muted if glossy made-for-TV look and its tinkling, whimsically modern piano score. Read full review
25
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
It's a fable that descends rapidly into nonsense. Read full review
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