Netflixable? “Little Brother” makes Cena Look Small

Netflix has made inroads in horror and begun to make a mark in prestige pcitures. But they cornered the market on teen rom-coms a while back. And now, years after signing Adam Sandler, his family and hangers-on, they’re going all in on coarse comedies.

“Little Brother” vies with “Office Romance” for Crudest Comedy of the Summer “honors.”

Pee pee gags, threesome romps played for laughs, drug humor and profanity are the main selling points of this John Cena/Eric André farce.

A few crude moments pay off and the odd “Oh no they didnt” chuckle tinkles around the edges. But mostly this is an R-rated bust and kind of embarassing for all involved.

Cena, a reliable oversized laugh in most movies, is paired up with Eric André, an acquired taste one acquires by watching his TV series — which I haven’t — or movies like “Balls Up” and “Happy Gilmore 2,” which one tries to forget.

The gimmick here is that Cena, as Rudd, a rising star in New York real estate, was once “big brother” to André’s disadvantaged Marcus, who idolized him as a child.

Decades later, Marcus busts out of a mental hospital because he’s got the idea that Rudd “needs” him.

Sherry Cola plays Rudd’s ace assistant, inexplicably attracted to the new loon who’s shown up at Rudd’s door. Michelle Monaghan is Rudd’s wife, mother to his dysfunctional teen sons, a woman inexplicably touched by Marcus’ story and determined to take him in, even though Rudd’s big TV break has landed in his lap — a chance to co-star in a New York real estate “Hustlers” reality series.

And Christopher Meloni plays Rudd’s overbearing, super-successful big brother, a Bezos by way of Joe Rogan success story who may or may not be looking out for his kid bro’s best interests.

I’d quote some funny lines, but there aren’t any. The vulgar sight gags that stick with you involve urinating out of and all over a high-end Porsche, a threesome straining to deliver a laugh via raunchiness and an “I like to watch” third party and Cena doing a tad too much nose candy to safely navigate a very important party at his brother’s place.

The real estate TV show — with its archetypes and machinations — never delivers a titter, much less a giggle. And most of the rest falls into the “know what’s coming, wasn’t that funny the first time we saw it” basket.

Monaghan deserves better. Cola should offer to joke-up her own characters and not be content with a glam wardrobe and hours in the stylist’s chair.

And whatever André brings to the table, Cena would be well-advised to leave him to the ageing Sandler crew, as “Little Brother” is nothing more than a quick, crude and lowdown buck with barely a laugh in it.

Rating: R, nudity, sex, scatological humor, profanity, drug abuse played for laughs

Cast: John Cena, Eric André, Sherry Cola, Christopher Meloni and Michelle Monaghan.

Credits:Directed by Matt Spicer, scripted by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel. A Netflix release.

Running time: 1:40

Unknown's avatar

About Roger Moore

Movie Critic, formerly with McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Orlando Sentinel, published in Spin Magazine, The World and now published here, Orlando Magazine, Autoweek Magazine
This entry was posted in Reviews, previews, profiles and movie news. Bookmark the permalink.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.