Little Man (Blu-ray)

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Video: The 1080p Hi Def picture (1.85:1 aspect ratio) looks great, with good detail, good color saturation, and good black levels.

Audio: Audio options are the "pure" sound that English PCM 5.1 (uncompressed) promises, though it's not as robust as other Blu-rays I've reviewed. Rather than being the result of some deficiency I suspect it's just that much of the action takes place in the center and much of the sound is all dialogue. That means much of the audio emanates from the front center speaker, with the surround speakers channeling relatively little of the sound.

Extras: This is the "Loaded with Extra Crap Edition," but there's less "crap" here than there is on the DVD release. Though there's the same deleted/extended scenes, making-of featurette, visual effects featurette, a short feature on Porco, and a tongue-in-cheek feature on "method" acting, missing is the commentary by the Wayans brothers.

The features are pretty much what you'd expect, except that one of them is exceptionally bad and another is exceptionally good. The worst is a worthless feature on Marlon supposedly being reduced to the point where we can't see him sitting on a chair, and all the other actors are talking about how much of a challenge it is. It's not funny, and who cares? But the really great extra focuses on the nine-year-old actor with a growth condition who played Marlon's body. It turns out they had to film everything twice-once with the young actor, and again with Marlon trying to duplicate the kids' movements exactly. We see Marlon coaching the kid on what he'd do in a particular scene, and darned if this rookie actor doesn't deliver. Watching him act and seeing his own face on his body as he delivers ALL his lines with Marlon's comic timing, tone, and flair, it's apparent that there's real talent here. We'll be seeing more of Linden Porco, even if screenwriters have to lower a few high-concept properties to fit the two-and-a-half foot tall youngster. Then again, Linden tells an interviewer, "I really want to direct," so look out, Keenen.

Bottom Line: For the most part, "Little Man" is what you'd expect: low comedy, but comedy nonetheless. It only bogs down during an extended football scene that seems like a pointless digression. The rest of it moves surely toward a conclusion that feels strangely right. Is it satisfying? Heck no. Is it a classic? Double heck no. Is it funny and entertaining? Yep. Though you might not want to admit it in the morning.