Little

Following a childhood full of bullying, shaming and social rejection, Jordan (Regina Hall) has grown into one of the most successful businesswomen of her time. Unfortunately for her employees and particularly her personal assistant April (Issa Rae), it’s through a ruthless tenacity that their boss has reached the summit. As karma strikes back at Jordan, she soon finds her career and life as she knows it under threat. Forced to adapt to inhabiting her 13-year-old body once again, the protagonist, along with the help of April, must learn and display a fresh understanding of how to help and appreciate the importance of those around her, a lesson which she already chose to ignore once before.
 
Full of cultural and modern references, Little is a film that will resonate with audiences of all ages thanks to its variety of music, language and even dance moves exhibited with professionalism and talent to be jealous of. Let it also be mentioned that Marsai Martin, who plays young Jordan for the majority of the film, is 14 years old and executive producer on this project. Concocting the idea from the age of ten, Martin has stormed her way into the record books four years later, now standing as the youngest ever individual to hold this title in the history of Hollywood. This is a staggering achievement for such a young individual and regardless of how successful the film is with critics or the box office, the final product is a credit to the star and a wonderful addition to her résumé.

However, the fault with the feature lies firmly in the writing. This movie is basically a role reversal of the 1988 Tom Hanks film Big, a widely respected and appreciated movie with some particularly historic scenes. This picture is not so memorable. Funny quips and a sizzling on-screen chemistry can only go so far when a screenplay is so simplistic and tediously written. Cheesy and predictable with less-than-powerful undertones, as a collective construct, Little brings little to the imagination.

This is not to say the film doesn’t make for fun viewing, with Rae and Martin proving an exciting comic duo. The characters are likeable, with the one exception being grown-up Jordan, who is quite frankly intolerable and one of the most obnoxious individuals one could imagine, even at the end of the adventure. Supposedly this is the point and you cannot blame Regina Hall for actually successfully embodying such a role when the fault lies more with the writing team, but it does feel painfully difficult to ever really sympathise with the mogul at any point throughout the movie. Maybe she should just stay as a child – she is far more palatable and polite in that form.

Guy Lambert

Little is released in select cinemas on 12^th April 2019.

Watch the trailer for Little here: