Rated: PG
Directed by: Tina Gordon
Screenplay Written by: Tracy Oliver and Tina Gordon
Story by: Tracy Oliver
Produced by: Will Packer, p.g.a, Kenya Barris and James Lopez, p.g.a
Starring: Regina Hall, Issa Rae, Tone Bell, Mikey Day, Marsai Martin, JD McCrary, Thalia Tran, Tucker Meek, Luke James and Rachel Dratch.
When Jordan Sanders (Regina Hall) showed-off her scientific talent in front of an audience of pre-teens only for the bully of the school to ruin her moment, her parents tell her (as they push her with a braced neck and plastered arm in a wheelchair) not to worry because when she gets big, smart kids become the boss. And no-one bully’s the boss.
Taking this predication as gospel, she becomes a rich tech CEO, running her company, JS Innovations with a be-jewelled iron fist.
She doesn’t care if her staff hate her. As long as they get the job done.
So when her slippers aren’t precisely 53 cm from the edge of her bed, so her feet fall on the feathered fluffy numbers she calls slippers, it’s hell to pay. And hell to be paid by her assistant, April (Issa Rae).
No wonder April’s listening to self-help audio books with titles, ‘So You Want To Slap Your Boss.’
When Jordan finally crosses the line, calling out the young daughter of the food truck owner who sells donuts outside her company, the young girl waves her magic plastic wand, wishing the mean boss lady was little.
It’s a classic body-swap of a 38-year-old adult to a 13-year-old, pre-teen. Only this time, it’s the black girls calling the shots.
Look, I wasn’t really expecting much with this film, maybe a bit of a giggle on a rainy night. And there were some giggles like the term, BMW: Black Mamma Whooping.
But the story felt disjointed, like it couldn’t quite decide whether to be a girls-night-out comedy or a pre-teen kid, feel-good movie.
The editing didn’t help with the funniest moments spliced in like an after-thought, just to inject some humour in the mix.
There’s a strong performance from new-comer, Marsai Martin as Little Jordan Sanders. Marsai pitched the idea when she noticed a cultural gap in these body-swap comedies we’ve all seen before: “There weren’t a lot of little black girls with glasses that looked like me on TV or in movies, so I just wanted to create something where you see more of myself and what you look like.”
She wanted one of those funny movies but with black characters.
And the writers make the most of this cultural difference, throwing in jokes like, ‘That only happens to white people. Black people don’t have the time.’
But the film doesn’t dwell here, with, Jordan’s uber rich and biggest client asking, ‘Did you know there’s three dinner napkins on your back.’
‘It’s fashion,’ she explains.
She has her weaknesses.
There’s also the comment of it’s better to wake up rich and heart broken, then broke AND heart broken.
Yet, there’s not much digging here, more a focus on Jordan’s reaction to the incident in junior high, that motivated her to become a bully and get rich.
There’s a lot of praising the dollar, leading to some pretty cool outfits, nice apartment, super cool car, etc, etc…
Looking good makes you feel good – right?!
The question isn’t asked. It’s just not that kind of movie.
Little is more about rich people having tantrums and learning life lessons like you can be yourself and succeed. With an added BTW, money rules.