“Little Boy” – Open Road Films(NEW YORK) — The World War II-era drama Little Boy has only one goal: make you cry. That’s it. That’s the entire purpose of this emotionally manipulative, two-dimensional schlock-fest. And surprisingly, as predictable as it is, you might indeed find yourself tearing up. But that only means you have a heart — don’t credit this film with inspiring genuine emotion. It doesn’t deserve it.
Little Boy stars Jakob Salvati as the title character, who earns his nickname for being small for his age. Because of his size, he’s constantly on the wrong end of the bully’s stick. He’s also desperately missing his dad (Michael Rapaport), his only real friend, who went off to fight in the war.
All of this makes eight-year-old Little Boy very angry. We know this because he yells more than half of his lines throughout the film. And since he’s in just about every scene, that’s a lot of yelling. I don’t want to bash Salvati, since he’s just a kid and more than likely was just doing what he was told. So I blame director Alejandro Monteverde and whomever did the casting, because Salvati is just not the right fit for this role. When he’s not yelling, he’s crying — poorly. He’s hardly a character you want to watch for an hour and 40 minutes.
Also unenjoyable to watch is every other character who can’t seem to escape from stereotype-land: Little Boy’s brother (David Henrie), a bad kid who just needs a little love; Emily Watson as the stick-in-the-mud mom just trying to keep her despondent family together while their fun dad is away at war; and Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), the stoic older Japanese man who at first frightens Little Boy, but in the end shows him the true meaning of kindness and friendship.
Throw in a travelling magician, and a plotline where the town naively believes Little Boy might actually have mystical powers, and the movie goes from predictable and annoying to wholly unbelievable.
The only redeeming thing about this film is its picturesque setting along the California coast. Also, if you’re nostalgic for soda shoppes and town squares, Little Boy will briefly return you to that era. But the trip is hardly worth the baggage that comes with it.
One-and-a-half out of five stars.
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