Little Boy

Set during World War II the Busbee family is torn as father, James (Michael Rapaport), is drafted into service as eldest son, London (David Henrie), suffers from flat feet. Left to raise the boys and run the family business mother, Emma (Emily Watson), is faced with adversity, especially from 8 year old son Pepper/Little Boy (Jakob Salvati). Pepper in particular turns to magic and faith to bring his father home from the war; but, it’s the vigilant eye and friendship of neighbor Hashimoto (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa) that may have the larger impact.littleboy Directed and partially written by Alejandro Monteverde, this historical time capsule does in fact touch on a number of social themes from the 40’s, some of which are still evident today, racial profiling, and small mentality to name a few. Lightly sprinkled humor throughout the film makes strides to touch the heart strings and win with cuteness, sadly, the end result is more akin to a daytime, semi low budget, made for TV movie that aspires to be greater than it actually is. And, while all the nuts and bolts are here, the film’s drama doesn’t manage to feel dramatic enough and the comedy doesn’t feel comedic enough. Nice effort but wait for rental or pass altogether on this one. Little Boy is rated PG-13.