|
Tuesday, 15 August 2006 02:42 |
While this particular hook involves electronically grafting Marlon Wayans' animated mug onto the 2-foot, 6-inch body of a 9-year-old actor, it's really just the latest opportunity for the Wayans boys to dish out the same sort of bodily function-driven outrageousness that they've been lobbing at appreciative movie audiences since 1995's "Don't Be a Menace."
Although you'll likely hate yourself in the morning for having succumbed to the sophomore silliness of it all, at the time resistance proves ridiculously futile. It might never make an AFI list, but the picture generates sufficient blasts of laughter to ensure brisk crossover business for Sony.
Bugs Bunny buffs will recognize the premise as a riff on the 1954 cartoon short, "Baby Buggy Bunny," in which pint-sized gangster Baby Faced Finster passes himself off as an infant after stowing his bank job booty in a runaway baby carriage.
Here, Marlon Wayans (at least his noggin anyway) plays freshly paroled jewel thief Calvin Sims, who, along with his normal-sized buddy Percy (Tracy Morgan) has one last heist in mind involving an awfully large diamond.
But when things don't go as planned, Calvin stashes the gem into a purse belonging to Vanessa Edwards (Kerry Washington), a recently promoted advertising exec whose husband, Darryl (Shawn Wayans), is ready to start raising a family.
Needing to get easy access to the Edwards home in order to reclaim the stolen prize, Calvin shows up on their front porch disguised as an abandoned toddler.
Unfortunately, Calvin's plans to make a clean getaway are thwarted when the surprised couple prove to be quite taken with their decidedly advanced bundle of joy.
As directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, who co-wrote the script along with Shawn and Marlon, "Little Man" scurries around serving up the anticipated pee-pee/poo-poo platter of gags, but once the initial round of breast-feeding and rectal thermometer bits is fired off, the picture starts to give off the funky whiff of unattended Pampers.
But while the Wayanses seem to be aiming for the record books in terms mining laughs out of shots to the crotch (according to preliminary estimates, there is a blow to the gonads roughly every 8.5 minutes), they admittedly get a lot of comic mileage out of the juxtaposition of Marlon's face on that little body.
Granted, they could have saved a bundle on the FX budget if they simply had hired "Bad Santa's" Tony Cox to do the honors, but baby-pussed Marlon, backed by about 1,000 visual effects shots, really works it, rivaling Jim Carrey in the facial elasticity department.
Props also to costume designer Jori Woodman, whose wildly over-the-top, Gymboree-on-acid baby frocks whimsically inform a vintage Looney Tunes fashion sense with "In Living Color" Men on Film street cred.
Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans
Producers: Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Rick Alvarez, Lee R. Mayes
Screenwriters: Keenen Ivory Wayans & Shawn Wayans & Marlon Wayans
Director of photography: Steven Bernstein
Production designer: Leslie Dilley
Editors: Nick Moore, Mike Jackson
Costume designer: Jori Woodman
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Calvin Sims: Marlon Wayans
Darryl Edwards: Shawn Wayans
Vanessa Edwards: Kerry Washington
Pops: John Witherspoon
Percy: Tracy Morgan
Greg: Lochlyn Munro
Walken: Chazz Palminteri
Soccer Mom: Molly Shannon
|
Hollywood Movies 
