Dwarf criminal Calvin and his accomplice Percy rob a diamond from a store, but when the police shows up, they hide it inside the purse of couple Vanessa and Darryl. Calvin thus disguises himself as a baby in order to get the diamond back. Vanessa and Darryl “adopt” Calvin at their home, leading to many problems. Upon finding out the truth, Darryl returns the diamond to the police and allows Calvin to stay at his home.
The movie that signaled the end of Marlon Wayans’ career as a comedian, “Little Man” is a movie where the only things that are smaller than its dwarf protagonist are its miniscule inspiration and creativity, which are microscopic. Following the insane, but at least tolerable “White Chicks”, where Wayans and his brother disguised themselves as white women, here they took on an even more insane concept, in which Wayans’ face was digitally added on to the body of a dwarf, yet the result is unwatchable, a typical populist vulgar comedy where the only attempts at humor are throwing primitivism at the screen, without any higher upgrade of finesse or sophistication. The only sources of ideas are sexual harassment jokes (the “baby” Calvin wants to be held by Brittany so that he can try to grope her breasts), pedophillia jokes (Vanessa kisses “baby” Calvin on his stomach, but he holds her head and wants her to go lower, towards his crotch), rape jokes (“baby” Calvin had sex with Vanessa at night, and she thiught it was Darryl), and the trademark of low quality movies—kick in the balls jokes. The only funny moment is the opening sequence, in which only the close up of Calvin's face is shown as he is training lifting his body up on a pole, as the prison guards inform him he is about to be released, which hints at a planned strategy of the filmmakers with a pay-off. And indeed, it pays off when the prison doors open, a giant shadow of a "tough" man is seen on the ground—yet as the camera tilts up, it is revealed that Calvin is actually 2'6 ft tall, as he walks pass two prison guards towering over him, which is a hilarious contradiction intro to his character. Sadly, this joke is amusing for only about 5 minutes, yet after the viewers get used to this unusual concept of Wayans' face on a dwarf, the remaining 90 minutes of the film have nothing more to offer, and thus the story feels dead, forced and unfunny pass the 5 minute mark.
Grade:-
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