Critic Reviews

Aside from the raunchy or gross-out set pieces, which are hit-and-miss, the movie rides the same few jokes all the way to their natural conclusions, before then trying to tap into the "heart" at the center of its story and completely throwing off its tone. In the end, I think I spent less time laughing than I did waiting for the film to be over.

It’s no classic—it fails to develop many of its most promising themes and ends just when it’s really starting to cook—but it’s clever, sincere, and genuinely funny, and will be endlessly rewatchable to anyone that clicks with it.

Boosted by spirited, often-hilarious supporting turns from a cast of certified funny people—Ego Nwodim, Sherry Cola, and Caleb Hearon—Little Brother is better than anyone tuning in for another mindless streaming comedy would have any right to expect.

Little Brother runs a familiar comedy playbook, but the peaks of Eric André disasters overcome the valleys.

“This is crude humor,” André ad libs in the end credits gag reel. It sure is, throughout, but the good-natured performers commit to their bits so much one can’t help but smile.

That Cena and André are so good together is all the more striking in a movie that affords them such infrequent overlap.

Matt Spicer’s comedy never reconciles its distinctively different tones. It aims to be a raunchy comedy with a sweet center but always plays as off-balance.

I found a few moments here lightly amusing . . . but it’s largely, disappointingly short on real laughs, a panicked maximalism to its bawdiness replacing anything more smart and thought through.

The result is an ill-defined set of scene premises that don’t cohere into something more than the sum of its parts and in fact, as it wears on, becomes less than those moments.

A few crude moments pay off and the odd “Oh no they didnt” chuckle tinkles around the edges. But mostly this is an R-rated bust and kind of embarassing for all involved.