Little Man (2006 film)

Little Man is a 2006 American crime comedy film written, produced and directed by Keenen Ivory Wayans, and also written and produced by Wayans Brothers Marlon and Shawn Wayans, who also both starred in the lead roles. The film co stars Kerry Washington, John Witherspoon, Tracy Morgan and Lochlyn Munro.

The film was theatrically released in the United States on July 14, 2006 to commercial success but largely negative reviews, including three Golden Raspberry Awards.

Plot
The film starts off with Calvin "Babyface" Simms (Marlon Wayans) who is a very short convict. He is seen getting released and planning a robbery to steal a diamond with the help of his goofball cohort Percy (Tracy Morgan). After the successful robbery, the duo are almost arrested, but not before Calvin manages to stash the diamond in a nearby woman's purse. The thieves follow the handbag's owner to her home where they discover a couple, Darryl (Shawn Wayans) and Vanessa Edwards (Kerry Washington), who are eager to have a child.

Calvin and Percy hatch a plot to pass Calvin off as a baby left on the couple's doorstep. After seeing Calvin, Darryl and Vanessa, wanting a child, immediately adopt the baby as their own. However, Vanessa's dad Francis "Pops" (John Witherspoon) has a bad feeling about Calvin. Friends of the couple find Calvin strange as well. Despite this, Calvin takes a liking to having a family and starts to feel remorse for using them. A local goon named Walken (Chazz Palminteri), discovers the deception and demands the diamond from Percy.

Darryl and Vanessa decide to adopt Calvin but upon coming home from a date, they find Pops and Calvin having a brutal fight as the former has discovered Calvin’s secret. Darryl finds it odd that Pops would harm an innocent child so he watches surveillance footage from a nanny cam bear and witnesses Calvin admit to his deception. Walken and his henchmen come by the house, convinced that Darryl is really Calvin - after Percy lies to get out of trouble. In a series of comedic maneuvers, Calvin manages to rescue Darryl and have Walken arrested. Darryl is given a substantial reward for the recovery of the diamond, and since Calvin saved his life, he doesn't turn him over to the police.

Before he leaves, Calvin thanks Darryl for taking care of him even though he wasn't really a baby and admits that he thinks Darryl would make a great father for a real child someday. Calvin is about to be out of Darryl's life for good, as Darryl watches him leave. Calvin is crying hysterically, so Darryl decides to let Calvin stay and from that point on, the two men become the best of friends. The film ends at some point in the future with Calvin and Pops playing with Darryl and Vanessa's real baby, who looks exactly like Darryl (Shawn Wayans's face superimposed on that of the baby).

Cast

 * Marlon Wayans as Calvin Simms
 * Shawn Wayans as Darryl Edwards
 * Kerry Washington as Vanessa Edwards
 * John Witherspoon as Pops
 * Brittany Daniel as Brittany
 * Tracy Morgan as Percy
 * Lochlyn Munro as Greg
 * Chazz Palminteri as Walken
 * Molly Shannon as Soccer Mom
 * David Alan Grier as Jimmy
 * Dave Sheridan as Rosco
 * Linden Porco as Calvin Body
 * Gabriel Pimentel as Calvin Body
 * John DeSantis as Bruno (credited as John De Santis)
 * Fred Stoller as Richard
 * Alex Borstein as Janet
 * Kelly Coffield Park as The Jeweler
 * Damien Dante Wayans as Officer Wilson
 * Rob Schneider as D-Rex (uncredited cameo)

Production
Filming began in the Vancouver area on September 17, 2005, and finished on January 21, 2006.

The scenes with Calvin Simms were played twice: once by nine year old 75 cm (2 ft 6 in) tall dwarf actor Linden Porco together with the other actors, and once by Marlon Wayans alone, using a "bluescreen" technique with a green background and green clothes. In post production, Porco's head on the images was replaced by that of Marlon. Porco's body was painted brown in order to match Marlon's face. Shawn Wayans' face was also superimposed in the final scene.

Soundtrack

 * "My House" by Lloyd Banks and 50 Cent
 * "Ridin'" by Chamillionaire and Krayzie Bone
 * "The Message" by Echo & the Bunnymen
 * "Movin' on Up" by Jeff Berry and Ja'net Dubois
 * "Celebration" by Robert Kool Bell
 * "Home Sweet Home/Bittersweet Symphony" by Limp Bizkit
 * "Lifetime" by Maxwell
 * "In This Moment" by Ill Niño
 * "Purple Haze" by Maxwell
 * "Buddy (D-Rex Theme Song)" by Dwayne Wayans and Eric Willis
 * "Best Friend" by Harry Nilsson
 * "Pump It" by The Black Eyed Peas
 * "Happy Birthday to You" by Mildred J. Hill and Patty S. Hill
 * "Praise You" by Fatboy Slim
 * "Candy Shop" (instrumental) by 50 Cent and Olivia

Box office
Little Man film grossed $58,645,052 domestically and a total $101,595,121 worldwide. The film's budget was $64 million. The film was released in the United Kingdom on September 1, 2006, and opened on #2, behind You, Me and Dupree.

Critical response
The film received negative reviews from movie critics. Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a rating of 12% based on 90 reviews. The site's consensus is "Another gimmicky comedy from the Wayans brothers, Little Man comes with the requisite raunchiness, but forgot to bring the laughs". It currently has a 4.3 out of 10 on IMDb.

On Metacritic, based on 22 critics, it received a 26 out of a possible 100. This sites "Generally unfavorable Reviews". The film received a 4.2 out of 10 on "Common Sense Media". Slant Magazine gave the film a 1.5 out of 4.

In an especially scathing review on BBC Radio 5 Live Mark Kermode described the film as "evil" and "possessed by the devil".

Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray, UMD and DVD in the United States on November 7, 2006, and also in the United Kingdom on 15 January 2007, and it was distributed by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.