Little brings us something new and fresh that we all need to see. The film stars comedy vet Regina Hall as Jordan Sanders, a ruthless cutthroat tech mogul who has a stick stuck up her ass due to the way she was treated in her younger years. Now, as an adult who is hell bent on succeeding, she causes chaos everywhere she steps. After being mean to a little girl in the office one day, Jordan wakes up the next morning as a little girl. This is where hilarity really ensues.
Also starring Issa Rae as her shy, not-quite-ready-to-embrace-her-talents-yet assistant, April Williams. Marsai Martin, famous for gracing our screens as Diane in Black-ish, executive produced and stars as the younger version of Jordan. Also throwing in Luke James as Jordan’s grown up love interest, which throws more fuel to this film's fire as Luke has one of the funniest scenes in the film.
While having wonderful performances from our main cast, we also got great performances from the newcomers in the film that round out the new age middle school cast, even including some very fresh musical sequences from the young talent. It wasn’t just the cast that made this movie so great, but all the messages that translated to the audience as well were fresh and stacked with feel good moments.
Serving as a producing vehicle for Marsai Martin, I think she did wonderful in her feature film debut, while both accurately portraying the innocence as well as maintaining the drive of her character throughout the film. This films cast alone is an attraction with all of the Black Girl Magic going on, you can't help but to fall in love with the corniness and campiness of it all. One of my favorite scenes is a dinner scene with Issa’s and Marsai’s character singing to “You’re gonna love me” by Jennifer Hudson and you can't help but to keep laughing from the level of seriousness both actors bring to the characters.
Overall, what I loved most about this movie is that it told the truth by showcasing it in an honest, vibrant and hilarious way. While at times maybe overdoing the jokes, they get right back on track and have you right on board to continue the ride.The film just all around brought something new and fresh to the screen for me, even though the story has been done before, because of the representation, this film deserves notable recognition. One of the only things I didn’t like in the film was that we did not get enough Regina Hall, but due to the nature of the story that was already to be expected. All in all, this film was amazing for the African-American community representation and I hope to see more arrive in theaters like this and especially hope to see more projects from Ms. Martin.
Echo Grade: A
