REVIEW: ‘Little Brother’ Is Humorous, But Fails In Every Other Way That Matters

Little Brother, the comedy from director Matt Spicer, is unfortunately a tale as old as time. Despite some stellar performances and genuinely humorous moments, Little Brother fails to deliver any semblance of an original thought. Further, it relies on the film’s stars to make up the difference, but comedic genius and sheer star power can only go so far.

The premise of Little Brother is that Rudd Landy (John Cena) is a former fat kid turned super jacked, high-powered real estate agent in New York City. He looks up to his older playboy millionaire brother, Josh (Christopher Meloni) and has always felt small in his shadow. When the hospital calls saying that his brother is hospitalized following a serious accident, Rudd’s life seems to crumble. What he finds instead is the boy he sponsored in “Big Brothers, Little Brothers” 30 years ago, when he was in high school.

Rudd’s “little brother,” Marcus (Eric André), is a man now in his 40s who lives with no filter. Every word that comes out of Marcus’ mouth is crude, offensive, or just plain stupid. John Cena’s failed heel-run at the end of his WWE career may have done one positive thing for him by giving him a chance to practice his upset face every week on television. That’s because Rudd makes use of that face for nearly the entire movie. Marcus is endearing to every other character in the movie, including Rudd’s wife Deirdre (Michelle Monaghan).

Eric André is easily the best part of Little Brother.

Still, it’s hard not to relate to Rudd in every way that matters because Marcus is exhausting. Everything he says and everything he does is pure chaos. Whether he’s peeing on Rudd’s car or using Rudd’s office to hook up with near-strangers, Marcus is a whirlwind of crazy, and Rudd seems to be the only person who sees it.

His family and his assistant, Mia (Sherry Cola), who spent over 300 emails inadvertently catfishing Marcus as Rudd, all seem blind to it. Even Lenore (Ego Nwodim) and Olly (Caleb Hearon), the producers of a reality show Rudd is set to appear on, fall in love with Marcus.

The problem is that the story is entirely predictable. There were practically zero surprises from start to finish. Watching the first 20 minutes of Little Brother informs the next 80 minutes. Sure, it’s funny at times, but it’s lacking any original ideas. What makes it worse is that the film seems fully unaware of how bad it is. Instead of leaning into its unoriginality as a joke, Little Brother attempts to tie everything up neatly at the end of the movie with hugs, high fives, and an important lesson about family.

John Cena isn’t super convincing as the bad guy, which tracks.

John Cena comes off as entirely unbelievable in many ways. Despite his constant scowl, he doesn’t convincingly convey that he’s a bad dude the way the script desperately wants the audience to see him as. It’s also hard to believe that someone who looks like John Cena would ever be intimidated by Christopher Meloni. The one time Cena comes off as genuine and authentic in any meaningful way is at the very end of the movie when it no longer matters.

Christopher Meloni, for his part, is doing the character work audiences have seen over the last 30+ years. He takes a fairly mediocre script, commits to the bit, and pulls it off. Nwodim and Hearon also showcase their comedic talents as Lenore and Olly. Cena aside, the cast really shines in their craft, despite the less-than-perfect writing.

The real star of the movie is Eric André. André chews on every single scene he’s in. His timing is impeccable, his delivery is flawless, and he commands every scene he appears in. Viewers who go in without a terribly vast knowledge of his body of work will know by the end of it that Eric André is a master at comedic acting.

The comedy suffers from a lackluster script that can’t match up to the talent of its cast.

While André didn’t have every joke and he wasn’t in every scene, the funnier parts of Little Brother all exist in scenes that he was in. Unfortunately, the most humorous scenes were in the outtakes that play during the end credits. Without a great script, André is forced to make comedy out of physical and crude humor and his comedy chops can only go so far in that situation.

At the end of the day, Little Brother tries to be a provocative look at what actually makes a family. It makes its point, but in a way that avoids any real emotional impact by the time the credits roll. Fantastic performances by the cast, including the scene-stealing Eric André, offer some laughs but can’t make up for a screenplay that has nothing new to say.

Little Brother is now streaming, exclusively on Netflix.