Little

Little is a funny, surprisingly heartfelt film, embedded in traditional themes and amplified by the talented Martin, who reminds us that she and other youth like her aren’t just adorable — they’ve got boss mentalities that cannot and should not be ignored.

If you think Little sounds like something a 10-year-old might come up with after seeing Tom Hanks’ Big, you would be entirely correct.

The idea that “little” Jordan’s response to attractive older men is guided by her inner adult yields some creepy-funny laughs that many will find mostly creepy.

Little is a blast, but it’s a shame that it’s not a better movie.

Little is overly protective of its characters and its audience; it’s soothing rather than sharp. That’s most likely because of an anxious concern for grown-up sensitivities. Smart 13-year-olds are likely to roll their eyes as well as laugh.

Alternately smarmy and achingly familiar, Little squeezes "Big" for one more run through the Hollywood grinder.

Despite the star power pushing this thing along, the plot is seemingly held together with duct tape, but the more problematic aspects involve sloppy editing.

Look, it’s what you expect from a film like this. Martin and Rae are solid, and Martin and Hall actually seem like they’re the same person. But some awkward editing and an overall sense of being afraid too to take risks hold this back.

Bullied as a child, businesswoman Jordan Sanders has become the bully as she runs her own tech company like a dictator and treats her employees very poorly. After a rude encounter with Jordan, a child uses a toy magic wand and wishes for Jordan to be a kid again to take her down a peg. The wish comes true the next morning when Jordan wakes up as her 13-year-old self. With her assistant April temporarily taking over the company, Jordan is forced to return to the school where she was previously bullied. Because Jordan is now a “minor", April poses as her aunt. At school, Jordan is introduced to her teacher, Mr. Marshall, whom she develops a crush on. Once again the target of bullies, Jordan befriends three other outcasts - Isaac, Raina and Devon. Meanwhile, April has difficulty keeping everyone's attention at work without Jordan's authority to back her up. At a restaurant, Jordan and April have dinner, bonding over their personal lives. Jordan loudly sings Mary J. Blige's "I'm Goin' Down" while intoxicated, embarrassing April. Despite her embarrassment, April sings along with Jordan, ending with Jordan accidentally pulling off a man's weave. Meanwhile, the company's biggest client threatens to move to a competitor if the firm doesn't pitch him a great idea for a mobile app. Unable to reach Jordan before the pitch, April presents an original idea, "Discover Eyes", that Jordan had previously blocked her from pitching. Jordan is upset with April for this, they argue, and April quits her job. After Jordan realizes how terrible she's been to April and everyone who cares about her, she helps her friends at school perform at a pep rally. They are booed by the crowd at first, but after a successful performance, they earn a round of applause and the respect of their peers. April finds the girl who turned Jordan into a child and asks that she turn her back to normal; the attempt seemingly fails. Jordan, having changed inside, vows to be a better friend to April. Jordan wakes up the next morning restores to her adult self and returns to work with a respectful and positive attitude towards her employees. After several rejections, April's pitch scores a huge client. Jordan throws the company a party to celebrate the company's success with April's pitch, and April is given a well-deserved promotion to Creative Executive.

We were watching this moving not expecting a lot. We hoped for some comedy. What we found was a lot of overacting and a plot line that was irretrievably bad. At about 35 minutes, I said, should we cut our losses? My wife agreed and we turned it off. That has happened 3-4 times in our 22 years of watching movies. This movie is just that bad. No entertainment value whatsoever.