There's high concept and then there's low concept.Using CGI to graft Marlon Wayans's face on a dwarf is definitely low concept.It's just sad to see somebody credited for a body.
The idea here is that little Calvin (Marlon Wayans) is a thief who gets out of prison,steals a diamond with his cohort,Percy (Tracy Morgan),and hides it in a woman's purse to elude the police.That woman is Vanessa (Kerry Washington) and she's married to Darryl (Shawn Wayans),so Calvin pretends to be a baby left on their doorstep to get inside their house and get the diamond back.
If there's a remotely believable moment in this film,I don't know where it is.I'm sure the French will find it.Oh sure,comedy often isn't supposed to be believable,but it's hard to laugh at something that doesn't even make a modicum of sense.
First of all,any idiot would be able to tell that a 40-year-old man,despite his size,is not a baby.There's a joke in the film where Darryl and Vanessa go to change Calvin's diaper and discover adult-size genitals.I think that would give it away.Unfortunately,this sort of movie requires the main characters to play stupid for so long that it's simply not funny after awhile.
Imagine for a minute how Marlon Wayans had to act for the film.He was either in a room by himself or was behind the camera watching the action and attempting to mimic proper facial expressions.I can tell you that whatever Marlon Wayans's gift might be,this sort of humor isn't it.Throughout the film he appears as though he's trying to scratch the top of his forehead with his eyebrows.They just bob up and down and are supposed to be some kind of substitute for acting.It's over-the-top,boring and embarrassingly lame.
"Little Man" is basically an "In Living Color" skit that goes on for too long.
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They superimposed Marlon Wayans' (The Ladykillers,Scary Movie 2) head on the body of a young dwarf to create the effect of making him look small,but one part of him did appear to shrink down to tiny size during the conception stage of this abysmal film -- the size of his brain.
Little Man is without a doubt one of the worst movies of 2006,or any year for that matter,with not a single laugh-worthy moment to be found at any point in this 90 minute film.I could give the Wayans' men some credit for taking chances with their films,as their last movie had the high concept of Marlon and Shawn dressing up as white women,but somewhere along the line,they really need to stop with the gimmicks and concentrate on being funny,if they even remember how to anymore.
Little Man may be a funny idea,although some might claim it has been done before in the Merry Melodies/Bugs Bunny classic cartoon,"Baby Buggy Bunny",which featured a remarkably similar premise of a hoodlum losing the loot after a heist and having to don a baby disguise to get it back.Little Man takes this idea,and concocts a plan for Calvin (Marlon Wayans) to infiltrate the home of young couple Darryl (Shawn Wayans) and Vanessa (Washington,Fantastic Four),who had already been talking about plans of having a baby of their own when Calvin appears at their doorstep dressed as a toddler.Calvin plans to pretend to be a baby until he can get his hands on the large jewel he stole,before the local mob boss (Palminteri,Running Scared) decides to snuff him out for not handing it over.
The problem with Little Man isn't the concept,which is amusing enough to think that something funny could have been made out of it in the right hands.The problem is in the execution,with the Wayans' doing what they always do with any concept they have,which is to infuse every scene with dick jokes,piss jokes,poop jokes,fart jokes,and boob jokes.No matter how outlandish the concept,they just keep making the same movie over and over,concocting new ways to deliver the exact same material they've been doing for almost two decades now.
A better title for this film would have been Men Getting Hit in the Crotch,as that seems to be the one comedic device that the Wayans' never tire of,trotting it out in nearly every other scene,and sometimes multiple times in the same one.The rest of the gags are in similarly poor taste,with something to offend just about everyone.Whether it plays off of incest,rape,child abduction,child abuse,or child endangerment,the film is only an attempted child molestation scene from exploring nearly every disturbing avenue possible with this material and still hold on to the PG-13 rating.
None of these things offended me nearly as much as the fact that,considering how twisted the concept is and how funny the Wayans' can be at times,there just isn't anything for us to laugh at.As was the case with their previous project,White Chicks,it's more disturbing than amusing on so many levels.Looks like they haven't stopped trying to make movies worthy of being called "Scary Movie".
I didn't think that I'd find a film in 2006 that could actually be as bad as The Benchwarmers,but Little Man manages to deliver an equally abhorrent assault on our senses blow for blow.For their next comic venture,perhaps it's time for the Wayans to finally try something they've never tried before -- grow up.
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297 million dollars.That鈥檚 the domestic box office total for the last three films starring,written,and directed by the family comedy team of Marlon,Shawn and Keenen Ivory Wayans.I know what you鈥檙e thinking:who cares,right?Well,somebody obviously does,or these guys would鈥檝e been thrown to the curb a long,long time ago.They also deserve a certain amount of respect for what they鈥檝e accomplished these past five years,including figuring out a way to lower production costs while maximizing their profits,and targeting a dependable niche audience dumb enough to see films like 鈥淪cary Movie鈥 and 鈥淲hite Chicks.鈥 The same formula has been applied to 鈥淟ittle Man,鈥 the latest comedy from the brotherly trio which,contrary to popular belief,isn鈥檛 the worst film of the year.In fact,it鈥檚 not even close to breaking the top five,and while it鈥檚 not the crappiest Wayans film ever made,it鈥檚 certainly not the best,either.
Loosely based on the famous Warner Bros.cartoon,鈥淏aby Buggy Bunny,鈥 the film stars Marlon Wayans as Calvin,a pint-sized criminal who teams up with his partner Percy (Tracy Morgan) to steal an enormous diamond for a local crime boss (Chazz Palminteri) promising a big payday.The robbery is compromised,however,and in an attempt to hide the rock for safe keeping,Calvin drops it into the purse of an unfortunate bystander (Kerry Washington) out shopping with her husband,Daryl (Shawn Wayans).Moments later,Calvin shows up on their front steps posing as an abandoned infant,and Daryl 鈥 eager to start a family of his own 鈥 feels compelled to take him in,unaware that he鈥檚 actually housing a fortysomething criminal.
Never one to pass up on a gimmick (like in 鈥淲hite Chicks,鈥 where two very black men prance around in drag as two very creepy-looking white girls for 109 minutes),鈥淟ittle Man鈥 offers up yet another comic device in the apparent shrinking of star Marlon Wayans.Actually,the actor鈥檚 face has been digitally affixed to the body of a smaller actor,and while it doesn鈥檛 look completely genuine (the story鈥檚 already a hard sell),the cartoonish nature of the final product certainly helps in drawing more parallels to the original Bugs Bunny short.The process is also something you eventually get used to,much like the film itself,which,while not particularly funny,is still mildly entertaining to sit through.The gags aren鈥檛 nearly as shameful,either,and while the script features its share of toilet humor,a lot of the set pieces resonate back to the days when Bob Saget hosted 鈥淎merica鈥檚 Home Videos.鈥 Think cheap shots to the groin,and lots of them.
Okay,so I may be getting a little ahead of myself here.鈥淟ittle Man鈥 is still a horrible film by most standards,but it鈥檚 not a complete failure,and that鈥檚 an important distinction to make.Even dreadful cameos by Rob Schneider and Molly Shannon are quickly forgotten about in place of funny supporting turns by David Alan Grier and (cousin) Damien Wayans as a racist black cop who has it out for his fellow brothers.Admittedly,鈥淟ittle Man鈥 isn鈥檛 a very funny movie,but at least I didn鈥檛 want to kill myself midway through the flick.No,that particular honor is reserved for 鈥淵ou,Me and Dupree.鈥滭br/>3