Director: Tina Gordon
Writer: Tracy Oliver, Tina Gordon (Screenplay)
Starring: Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Marsai Martin, Justin Hartley, Tracee Ellis Ross, Tone Bell, Mikey Day, JD McCray
Plot: A woman is transformed into her younger self at a point in her life when the pressures of adulthood become too much to bear.
Tagline – She woke up like This.
Runtime: 1 Hour 49 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Strong Performances, Weak Laughs
Story: Little starts as we meet strict boss Jordan Sanders (Hall) who treats everybody badly with her bossy mentality, which has grown in her since her time at school, she walks all over everybody in her business, with her assistant April (Rae) dealing with most of her abuse.
With Jordan’s biggest client about to walk away from the company and the pressure is cranked up and things only get worse for Jordan, when a little girl sees her ways, wishes she was little again, Jordan (Martin) now school kid age must return to school, leaving April to run company for her.
Thoughts on Little
Characters – Jordan Sanders is the strict boss that always looks down on people, bullying them into the work in her life, she has made plenty of enemies along the way and is about to lose her biggest client. Caught in the act of her bossy ways, she turns back to her teenage self, one that was bullied, never fitted in and here she must learn a lesson about herself and her future. April has been the assistant to Jordan for years now, she does want to be her own woman with her own ideas, which as always shot down by Jordan, when Jordan becomes little, she turns to April who gets her chance to step up in her life, proving to be a friend that Jordan never thought she would have.
Performances – Regina Hall does well as the strict bossy figure, but it is Issa Rae and Marsai Martin that shine the most bringing their characters to full life in the position where they wouldn’t normally see themselves.
Story – The story here follows a successful strict boss that gets turned back to her younger self, forcing her to let people do things for her, while trying to learn a lesson about letting people into her own life. We have seen the body swapping ideas before, while this isn’t a full body swap, it does show how damaged somebody can be, making them closed off from the rest of the world. While this story might have a deeper meaning about how to make the best decisions in life, certain pop culture references, don’t help everything and we do end up not spending enough time with the school side of little Jordan’s time, which is where she is meant to learn the most.
Comedy/Fantasy/Romance – The comedy in the film doesn’t hit well enough for the most part, it all seems like everybody is trying to hard, rather than being naturally funny, the fantasy side of the film looks how a spell could change somebody, just like any fantasy body swapping film, with the romance being there, only not getting enough time to focus on.
Settings – The film shows the successful selfish life Jordan has ended up living, it shows how Jordan is only interested in her own life.
Scene of the Movie – Little Jordan’s first day.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – Most of the comedy doesn’t work.
Final Thoughts – This is a basic comedy that does have a bigger message about treating people better in life, or you will end up finding themselves alone when they need help the most.
Overall: Simple Comedy.
