Little 2019

     The inspiration for this film was the Tom Hanks movie Big.  Marsai Martin wondered how the story would work with a race, gender and age switch?  Big was about a male middle school student wishing to be big and waking up in an adult male body.  This is about a 38-year-old woman becoming little and a middle school student again.  Jordan is the head of her own company but she treats everyone in her personal life and professional life very badly.  I young girl out in front of the building is tired of Jordan being mean and she uses her “magic wand” to make Jordan little.  Jordan does not want to go back to middle school because she remembers how bad it was as a teen!!

     One of the messages of this film is that an adult/boss can be a bully and mean.  This leads to success, a lavish lifestyle and submissive behavior from those working for her?  Jordan treats people badly as an adult and then as a young teen she treats adults and other teens like badly.  She also thinks she can order adults around and drink alcohol if she wants to as a teen?  Jordan doesn’t experience any big consequences for her adult or teen bad behavior?  In the beginning, I wasn’t sure if this would be good but it grows on you as it moves along because of the funny moments.  3 ½* (I liked this movie)  

            

109 min, Comedy directed by Tina Gordon with Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Marsai Martin, Justin Hartley, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tone Bell, Mikey Day, JD McCrary, Tucker Meek, Thalia Tran, Marley Taylor, Eva Carlton, Luke James, Rachel Dratch, Christopher A. Martin.

Note:  Imdb 5.4* out of 10*, Rotten Tomatoes 47% critic 64% audience, Roger Ebert 2 ½* Nell Minow, Common Sense Media Tara McNamara age 13+, 2* out of 5*, 2* positive, 2* role models, 3* violence, 3* sex, 3* language, 4* consumerism, 3* drinking, drugs & smoking, Letterboxd average 2.6* out of 5*, Amazon 4.2* out of 5* with 597 reviews, Metacritic 49 out of 100 with 36 critics (13 positive, 20 mixed, 3 negative) 4.7 out of 10 with 25 user scores (8 positive, 8 mixed, 9 negative).

Special Note:  This is Universal Pictures’ first 1.85:1 production since Pitch Perfect 3 2017.  Production often paused mid-take when the freight train would sound its horn outside the set and the actors would have to restart.  There is a mistake when April makes her final pitch to their client.  Jordan walks in the front door, but her car can be seen through the glass parked in its space behind the meeting room.  Other films with body swapping are Freaky Friday, 13 Going on 30 and The Switch.

People:  Tina Gordon is an American screenwriter, producer and director.  She mad her directorial debut in the 2013 film Peeples and she was also the co-writer.  Regina Hall is an actress and comedian.  She envisioned a career as a journalist but became an actress in her late twenties.  Tracee Ellis Ross is the daughter of actress and recording artist Diana Ross.  She has had lead roles in the television series Girlfriends and Black-ish.