The last movie I saw helmed by director Matt Spicer was the very good Ingrid Goes West, but I didn't know that until checking on some details after watching this, a fairly broad comedy that feels miles away from his previous feature. Look closer, however, and there are some similarities to be found about the way people present themselves and how their perception of others can be affected.
John Cena plays Rudd Landy, a successful real estate agent who is about to take his career up a level with an appearance on a reality TV show. That might help him finally get out from under the shadow of his super-rich older brother, Josh (Christopher Meloni). Which makes it a particularly bad time for Rudd to end up reconnecting with his little brother, Marcus (Eric André). Marcus isn't related to Rudd by blood, but they were placed together once when Rudd participated in the Big Brother program. Rudd's wife, Deirdre (Michelle Monaghan), thinks it would be nice to give Marcus a warm welcome, and some time to recover after a recent car accident. Rudd isn't so sure, but he's unaware that Marcus believes they have been communicating with one another for some time, thanks to an ongoing email chain handled by Rudd's assistant, Mia (Sherry Cola).
Written by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, Little Brother starts off as exactly the kind of film you expect it to be. Cena's character is uptight and a bit selfish, and André brings some chaos with his behaviour and circumstances. It's never aiming to be believable, particularly when Monaghan's character accepts some specific advice for helping her husband relax, and viewers will be waiting to see how things escalate until the wild and whacky character is accepted by someone who has to accept that they could benefit from sometimes being on his wavelength.
The pleasant surprise here, in terms of both the screenplay and the performances, comes from the fact that things actually settle down before the third act. Marcus is loud and kooky for his early scenes, but he soon shows himself to just be a happy-go-lucky and optimistic individual with a genuine aim to help others. The biggest problem with Marcus is how Rudd views him, projecting his own insecurities and stress on to someone who is only ever trying to help him. I know that I am still making this sound like a hundred other comedies in the same vein, but you have to trust me when I say that it becomes better when it provides a bit of extra context and emotional impact. Spicer doesn't have to dive deep into any bag of directorial tricks, and it became tiresome a while ago to watch a comedy in which a main character starts to trip out, but he does well to keep the tone balanced as things move from silly to being a bit more serious.
Cena is good in the lead role, and it's in line with other comedy roles he's landed in the past decade. He pairs up quite well with André, who manages to be both chaotic and quite sweet. Monaghan does the understanding wife role that she seems to be offered for every second movie, Meloni is entertainingly n braggadocious, and Cola is good fun as the assistant who knows more about Marcus than anyone else onscreen. Ego Nwodim and Caleb Hearon also do well, playing the people in charge of manipulating shots and edits to optimise their reality show, and Bryce Gheisar and Pilot Bunch are the teen sons who end up warming to "Uncle Marcus". It's also worth mentioning Tony Torn, who is in scenes that almost bookend the main narrative, and provides a couple of big laughs when he reappears before the end credits roll.
I'm still not going to go out of my way to strongly recommend this to everyone, there's that feeling throughout that it's another one of those movies that feels a bit more like "content" than anything else, but I stand by my view of this being a bit better than I expected, mainly thanks to the developments that add dimension to a character who could have easily been presented as an entertaining and idiotic nuisance from start to finish. Add a point if you're a big fan of either lead. Take away a handful of points if you can't stand them.
6/10
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