For another iteration of the “body swap” genre popularized by 1977’s Freaky Friday, we head to 2019’s Little. As a child, Jordan Sanders (Marsai Martin) dealt with bullying.

Left with these emotional scars, the adult Jordan (Regina Hall) turns the tables and the successful tech mogul pushes around those under her. This mainly means she abuses April Williams (Issa Rae), her long-suffering assistant.

A young aspiring magician named Stevie (Marley Taylor) witnesses Jordan’s mean-spirited ways. As a punishment, she puts a curse on the businesswoman that causes her to physically regress to her 13-year-old self.

Forced by legal authorities to attend school, Jordan “adopts” April as her guardian. The pair sort through a variety of challenges while Jordan tries to figure out how to become adult again.

Though I mentioned Freaky Friday earlier, the most obvious influence/forebear for Little comes from 1988’s classic Big. Heck, the 2019 film’s title clearly alludes to the earlier film.

A “reverse Big” seems like such a natural concept for a movie that I feel surprised it never arose as a formal sequel to the 1988 flick. I’m happy it didn’t - Big was such a gem that another chapter to the story would’ve spoiled its perfection – but it still seems like an idea that should’ve been used before now.

Not that the “adult in a younger body” notion hasn’t cropped up often, as it has. We’ve seen plenty of movies with that theme, but unless I’ve forgotten something, Little becomes the closest thing to a real “response” to Big since both focus on 13-year-olds.

Given that Big came out 31 years prior to Little, the filmmakers probably didn’t worry too much about comparisons. Old folks like me would draw the connection and contrast the two, but since Little clearly aimed for an audience of kids born 15 to 20 years after Big hit screens, these issues likely didn’t leap to the fore.

That’s good, as Little can’t hold a candle to Big. This shouldn’t surprise anyone, as Big really does offer a classic, but the difference in quality nonetheless becomes enormous.

Absolutely nothing about Little proves creative or engaging. The movie embraces every cliché it can find, as it follows a predictable path toward self-realization and whatnot.

Will Jordan learn the error of her overbearing ways? Will April manage to become more assertive? Of course they will – it takes no insight to understand the arcs they’ll experience.

Just because we know where the journey will lead doesn’t mean it can’t offer entertainment, but Little flops in that regard. For one, 109 minutes seems awfully long for such a slight story as this.

Sure, Big enjoys a similar running time, but it manages actual depth and character movement. Little lacks anything but the most trite developments, so its length seems difficult to endure.

Really, Little presents a series of comedic episodes loosely linked by its “plot”. As badly as the film wants to create an emotional journey, it really just links together a bunch of silly moments without much coherence.

Occasionally scenes appear to pop up out of nowhere, as they sometimes don’t cut together in a logical way. It’s like the filmmakers knew the story wouldn’t go anywhere so they didn’t even attempt a natural flow.

Perhaps if the sequences amused, this wouldn’t seem so evident, but laughs become few and far between in Little. The cast overacts relentlessly and buries any potential humor beneath their aggressively over the top performances.

Not that I can imagine superior acting would redeem these awful gags. Little takes on a slew of lame jokes and can’t find any cleverness to buoy them.

All of this leads to a painful 109 minutes of lousy comedy. Skip this stinker and just watch Big again instead.

Little appears in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This became a pleasant presentation.

Sharpness was positive. Only minor softness crept into wide shots, so the image remained pretty tight and well-defined at all times.

I noticed no issues with shimmering or jaggies, and edge haloes failed to appear. Print flaws also failed to mar the presentation.

Little went with a teal-influenced palette that sprinkled in a few other tints as well, so we occasionally got some bright hues. Within the movie’s color design, the tones seemed solid.

Blacks were dark and deep, while shadows demonstrated nice smoothness. This was a consistently satisfying image.

The DTS-HD MA 5.1 mix of Little showed the scope generally typical of the comedy soundfield. That said, a few exterior elements occasionally allowed it to open up in a satisfying manner.

These added some immersiveness, but those instances remained fairly infrequent. The mix did use the score in a broad, engaging manner, though, and the whole package fit together smoothly.

Audio quality seemed good. Speech was distinctive and natural, without edginess or other issues.

Music seemed warm and lush, while effects showed nice clarity and accuracy. Bass response delivered nice punch. Given the limited aspirations of the soundscape, the audio suited the film.

When we shift to extras, we begin with an audio commentary from co-writer/director Tina Gordon. She presents a running, screen-specific look at story/characters, cast and performances, sets and locations, music, stunts, design choices and related topics.

Gordon brings us a track that seems adequate and no better. While she touches on a good array of topics, she keeps things fairly superficial. We get a decent view of the production but not anything especially memorable.

A Gag Reel runs five minutes, 15 seconds and provides a typical compilation of goofs and silliness. It lacks much charm.

A few featurettes follow, and More Than a Little Talent goes for four minutes, 10 seconds and includes comments from Gordon, producer Will Packer, and actors Marsai Martin, Regina Hall and Issa Rae.

“Talent” tells us how awesome the three lead actors are. It’s devoid of informational value.

Our lead actor comes to the fore via Regina Goes Method. In this six-minute, 11-second piece, we hear from Hall, Rae, Gordon, Packer, Martin and actor Kendra L. Franklin.

“Method” tells us that Hall acted like a beast on the set. It intends to offer a comedic look at the shoot but it doesn’t succeed.

Next comes Marsai Martin Presents, an eight-minute, 37-second program during which Martin chats with crewmembers. She yaks with Gordon, 2nd 2nd AD Rachael Floyd, boom operator Patrick Wylie, makeup department head Vonda Marshall, production assistant Montarai Battle, and her parents Carol and Josh Martin.

Martin gets the various crewmembers to explain their jobs. It’s a decent overview.

Black Mamma Whuppin’ Situation lasts two minutes, 44 seconds and features Gordon, Packer, Marsai Martin, Rae and stunt coordinator Alan D’Antoni. We get some minor thoughts about one of the movie scenes, but it’s mostly silly and superficial.

Finally, Issa Rae’s Assistant Survival Guide spans two minutes, 17 seconds and brings a comedic discussion of employment tips. It’s watchable but no better. y

The disc opens with ads for The Hustle, Teen Spirit, UglyDolls and The Best of Enemies. No trailer for Little appears here.

A second disc provides a DVD copy of Little. It comes with the same extras as the Blu-ray.

A fantasy in the Big vein, Little lacks a scintilla of that classic’s appeal. The movie consists of one poor comedic moment after another and never entertains. The Blu-ray boasts very good picture with acceptable audio and a smattering of bonus materials. Little lacks value as a film.