Little Brother will be released June 26 on Netflix.
After faltering a while back as a strong-jaw action hero, WWE’s John Cena found his film stride with comedy, awesomely playing eccentric weirdos for Judd Apatow, James Gunn, Peter Farrelly, Seth Rogen, Tina Fey, Paul Feig, and more. Now, in Little Brother, Cena gets to be the tightly-wound character, a stressed realtor named Rudd who must deal with his own doofus in the form of calamity-magnet Marcus, played by Eric André… and the results are – hey! – better-than-average!
Little Brother breaks no molds, and clearly the blooper reel that runs during the closing credits shows you they had more laughs on set than were provided for the viewer, but there are laughs to be had here. The sheer level of ridiculous catastrophes that happen to Marcus are often a godsend, just so over the top that you can’t help but cackle a bit. But this also won’t be your new favorite go-to comedy. One watch is sufficient.
Little Brother is a latecomer in long line of “guy annoys another guy” comedies – from Planes Trains & Automobiles to What About Bob? to Cable Guy to even 80% of SpongeBob Squarepants. Co-written by Jarrad Paul, who co-created the severely underrated Fox comedy The Grinder, Little Brother borrows some of its best traits from that series, as both involve an uptight, insecure rule-follower being bombarded, and cuckoo’d in a way, by an oddball free spirit (though, no offense to Cena, but he doesn’t top Fred Savage’s ability to turn the straight man into an expert comedic performance).
Little Brother can be deviously funny at times, feeling like one of the Farrelly Brothers’ better efforts. But there are also long stretches where it becomes a Plain Jane streaming comedy, and those moments make you notice the missed potential. That being said, if you’re excited to see Eric André suffer a seemingly unending parade of physical indignities, most of which are timed hilariously, then you’ve found your Xanadu.
As Rudd sets his eyes on becoming a reality TV show star as part of a high-end NYC real estate series, Marcus re-enters his life. Decades earlier, Rudd was briefly Marcus’ “Big Brother” in an after-school outreach program, which he participated in mostly because of the issues he had with his own older brother, Josh. Marcus, now a physical culmination of trauma and disarray, thinks he and Rudd have been keeping in close contact for years, though it’s actually been Rudd’s assistant Mia (Shrinking’s Sherry Cola) running interference and answering the e-mails.
So now Rudd, at his most anxious and uncertain, has to deal with a disastrous stranger who upsets every single apple cart while also getting along smashingly with everyone in Rudd’s life – including his wife (Michelle Monaghan) and the adult Josh (Christopher Meloni).
The players all have great chemistry, particularly Cena and André, but the story plays out as expected, with all the familiar beats leading you through. First you feel for Rudd, then you feel for Marcus, then you just feel good about everyone. Still, Little Brother has enough bodily fluids, bare asses, and fake penises to make for a decent couch watch, so have at it.
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