Park puppy love

Husband-and-wife team Mark Levin (director) and Jennifer Flackett (writer) have achieved two things with this charming, if lightweight, romance. First, the film is a love letter to New York reminiscent of Woody Allen's Manhattan, second it's a surprisingly accurate-seeming examination of puppy love.

The young lovers are classmates of around 11. Gabe (Josh Hutcherson) narrates as he slowly but surely falls for Rosemary (Charlie Ray). They cruise on his scooter and enjoy summer in Central Park.

It's a complicated business for him but just as traumatic and puzzling as it often is for adults. Remember, the feelings you have at that age are enough to fell an oak. And occasionally Gabe can't tell the wood from the trees.

There's no mawkishness and little sentimentality, even if Yonkers seems full of black Americans who are either fools or sages, and the kids view the adult world through rose-tinted glasses.

Contemporary youngsters might be tempted to reject it as soppy but really it isn't, and that's a refreshing change.

Little Manhattan
Cert: PG