Respond to these rapid questions in our Little Boy quiz and we will tell you which Little Boy character you are. Play it now.
The young boy who is the focus of “Little Boy” regularly pulls off an act that is allegedly done to be moving. Jakob Salvati’s character, Pepper Flint Busbee, an eight-year-old boy, wills an object to move by sticking out his fingers, scrunching up his face, squinting his eyes, and yelling loudly. It might be a glass bottle. It might be a mountain. But sure enough, he succeeds in his endeavor thanks to magic, cunning, or a precisely timed seismic shift.
In the end, he makes an attempt to use this “gift” to save his adored father from combat during World War II. By this time, his trademark move—which was previously just strident and annoying—seems plain silly and perhaps even a touch crude.
The film, which Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Monteverde co-wrote with Pepe Portillo, is rife with flaws, many of which are exemplified by this emotional discrepancy. It is intended to be a story of inspiration for audiences that identify as religious, but instead wears viewers out with a preachy narrative, a domineering score, and a narration that explains everything in gratingly folksy tones.
The fictional coastal California hamlet of O’Hare is where the events of “Little Boy” take place around the time of Pearl Harbor. We are assured that it is “just like you see in postcards,” as if we are unable to discern its charming small-town charm on our own. This place is covered in thick layers of reminiscence, like delicious frosting. However, this film at least has high production qualities in comparison to other films geared toward Christian audiences.
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Small for his age (thus the moniker), Pepper is mercilessly bullied by the older children. His father James (a sincere and enthusiastic Michael Rapaport), who also enjoys comic books, movies, and made-up adventures, is his only friend.
However, one day James must replace his older son London (David Henrie), who is confined to staying at home due to flat feet, and go to war. In spite of Pepper’s understandable grief over his father’s departure, a sermon at the local church on the transforming nature of faith uplifts him. He goes to the priest (Tom Wilkinson, who manages to provide substance in only a few scenes), who gives him a list of good things to complete in order to help him bring his father back, such as feeding the hungry and providing refuge for the homeless. The idea is absurd, of course.
Little Boy Quiz
After that, he gives Pepper the assignment that seems the most difficult of all: make friends with Mr. Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), a senior Japanese man who has returned to O’Hare after being freed from an internment camp. Throughout the war, Hashimoto was the object of widespread derision, some vandalism, and even crude racial slurs—”Little Boy” doesn’t hold back. But he unwillingly consents to spend time with this outcast kid as a courtesy to his friend, the priest.
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The ultimate product is an overly sentimental interpretation of “The Karate Kid,” in which the reclusive and misunderstood dad steps up to be this bullied boy’s father figure, mentor, and protector while facing off against a vintage Cobra Kai. Tagawa gives the part, which is really more of a concept than a fully developed figure, a quiet dignity. In a similar waste of talent, Emily Watson’s role as James’ patient wife consists primarily of worrying and crying.
Speaking of the cast, there is an odd similarity to “Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2,” which is awful in a completely different sense, from last week. Henrie played a supporting role in the comedy as a valet parking attendant at the Wynn Las Vegas, alongside the star of that movie, Kevin James, who plays the town’s widower doctor here in a more subdued manner. The hotel’s dapper head of security, Eduardo Verastegui, also has a brief role here as a fellow priest. He produces such faith-based content alongside husband and wife team Mark Burnett and Roma Downey.
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However, no amount of skill can make up for the obscene sight of the locals applauding for Little Boy, both as a figure and as the codename for the atomic bomb unleashed on Hiroshima. The juxtaposition of celebration and death, as well as a fantasy scene in which Pepper wanders across a desolate wasteland surrounded by corpses, all contribute to a fairly unsettling atmosphere.
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The movie’s youthful, blue-eyed star isn’t quite up to the challenge of those harder scenes, or anything beyond being moppet-like and resolute. “Little Boy” also exploits tears from the destiny of a significant character.
It is impossible for a film like this to do anything other than honor such a character for his faith. But even by the norms of this genre, the story’s romantic turns and resolution are as blatant as they are cheesy.
For more personality quizzes check this: Grandma Quiz.