‘Little’ seeks to go big on laughs; ‘Bless This Mess’ on TV



‘LITTLE’ (Rated PG-13)

Role reversal is often a thing at the movies, and the Tom Hanks movie “Big” readily comes to mind when a 13-year-old boy magically wakes up the next morning in an adult’s body while retaining his adolescent mindset.

Switch the age, race and gender and the result is “Little” and a 38-year-old black woman becomes a middle-schooler who maintains the attitude and mentality of her adult self.

Regina Hall’s Jordan Sanders, who had suffered the indignities of bullying and ostracism in middle school, vowed to become a mean girl success as an adult in the highly competitive business world.

Jordan’s desires became reality as the founder and boss of a thriving software company whose enormous ego is inflated by blow-ups of magazine covers featuring her grand achievements adorning the office walls.

Having achieved the trappings of success with a swank apartment, exotic car and closets full of glamorous clothes, Jordan exercises tyrannical power by verbal abusing her browbeaten assistant April (Issa Rae) and all others in her employ.

When a young girl doesn’t take kindly to Jordan’s harsh arrogance, she uses her amateur magician standing to wave a wand wishing that the devilish Jordan would be brought down in size as just punishment.

The hex is realized when Jordan wakes up the next day inside the body of her teenage self and is soon reported to child protective services as a truant minor who has to be enrolled in the same middle school where she had suffered humiliation some twenty-five years earlier.

Suddenly, the younger version of Jordan (Marsai Martin) has to rely on the beleaguered April to manage the tech company and to make some big adjustments to boost employee morale and to try to keep a vital client from defecting to another firm.

There’s expected humor in the predicament now faced by the younger Jordan who still doesn’t fit in at school and is quickly relegated to only being welcome at the nerds’ table during lunch breaks.

Meanwhile, April thoroughly enjoys the role reversal, taking expensive clothes from Jordan’s closet to impress coworkers. Awkwardness sets in when young Jordan starts flirting with the handsome teacher (Justin Hartley) she insists on calling by his first name.

“Little,” plodding along at times with a simplistic romanticism, casts a spell on both Jordan and April, offering them a bumpy road paved with cheerful humor as second chances are realized in desirable life lessons.



‘BLESS THIS MESS’ ON ABC NETWORK

The premise of the new comedy series “Bless This Mess” on the ABC network is deceptively simple. A yuppie newlywed couple leaves the hustle and bustle of New York City to take over a farm in rural Nebraska.

If this sounds like the “Green Acres” series, cast member Ed Begley Jr. informed critics during the winter press tour that “Bless This Mess” was “similar in plotline” but different in that it is “very edgy.”

Lake Bell, also co-creator of the show, and Dax Shepard star respectively as Rio, eager to give up her therapy practice, and music journalist Mike. On a whim, they decide it’s a wonderful idea to move to the Midwest when he inherits a farm from his great aunt.

Before packing for the road trip, the couple must first contend with the cynical skepticism of Rio’s mother (Susie Essman). Then faster than ordering a latte at Starbucks, Rio and Dax arrive at a farmhouse that should have been deemed uninhabitable by a building inspector.

Predictably enough, the clueless Rio and Mike quickly set about attempting home repairs when it appears neither has ever held a hammer. The hopelessly dilapidated house instantly recalls the struggles of another young couple in “The Money Pit.”

Another surprise in store for the New Yorkers is the parasite Rudy (Begley) living in their barn and casually using their bathroom even when they are in the shower. Rudy’s quirky antics suggest that he’s the type of neighbor who is way too invasive of personal space.

Rio and Mike are very likable with their city slicker frivolity. Unfamiliar with even basic facts of rural life, Rio instantly displays an unreasonable yet humorous fear of a docile cow roaming free.

The show’s urban-centric writers apparently traffic in the typical oblivious understanding of rural life, casting neighbors (Lennon Parham and David Koechner) as a scheming hayseed couple eager to buy Rio and Mike’s farmland.

As one of the locals, Pam Grier fares much better as the cowboy hat-wearing Constance, owner of the local hardware store doing double duty as the town sheriff who also happens to run the local theater with a production of a Broadway musical.

“Bless This Mess,” much like the “Green Acres” mockery of the clash between city folk and the local rubes, mines the comedy of cultural differences and urban pretensions. Running for only six episodes, it may not take long to see if this show has promise.

Tim Riley writes film and television reviews for Lake County News.

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