Vicky Sparks
Logic would dictate that if you took the concept of two great movies and mixed them together you’d end up with a third great movie. Little exists to prove logic wrong.
One part Big (a fantastic movie) and one part The Devil Wears Prada (a superb movie) should equal one devilishly Big serving of Prada and yet, it doesn’t. Oh boy, does IT NOT.
When the boss from hell (played by Regina Hall) angers the wrong sassy 10-year-old, she pulls a magic wand out of her hair and wishes “she [the boss] was little” so she can put her in her place.
Wouldn’t you know it? The next morning hell-boss wakes up her nerdy, 13-year-old self played by Black-ish’s Marsai Martin.
With only her beaten-down assistant (played by Issa Rae) to help, she’s forced to open herself up and discover the child within to become a better adult.
This is not a new story. But even old stories can have a new spin put on them and become something new and great. Sadly, the spin put on Little is to force every character to be as unlike any person living in reality as possible.
To say they are playing caricatures is insulting to caricatures. Each line is delivered at a screech, each joke dragged out as long as possible, every plot point obvious from the beginning.
The greatest mystery of Little will be why the incredibly talented adult actors at its core (the children are forgiven) agreed to participate.
Regina Hall is coming off the most critically celebrated performance of her career with last year’s Support the Girls, and Issa Rae not only stars in a hit HBO sitcom, she created it.
These women are at the top of their game and know good writing. Why they would choose to participate in this disaster is beyond me.
Little leaves viewers with so many questions and only thing we know for sure. Two wrongs don’t make a right and two rights can make a wrong.
Little is devoid of logic and quality. Consider yourself warned.
Vicky Sparks is a Bright’s Grove native and movie critic for Global TV’s The Morning Show, which airs nationally on Fridays. Her Journal Reviews cover movies playing at Galaxy Cinemas Sarnia