‘Little Brother’ Movie Review: John Cena and Eric Andre in a Shamelessly Recycled Odd-Couple Raunchfest on Netflix

Netflix likes to tout its endorsement of film auteurs like Martin Scorsese, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuarón, and Greta Gerwig, among many others. But you get the sense that what really gets them excited is recycling tried-and-true formulas. And their movies don’t get any more complicated than the new comedy duo starring John Cena and Eric Andre. if Little brother It feels familiar while watching it, because it is a film that has been pre-digested as if it had been eaten by a bird Twins, What about Bob? and Planes, trains and cars Then spit out the contents into your mouth.

Little brother It also attempts to revive the R-rated raunchy comedy genre, a former theatrical staple that has not fared well, with rare exceptions, in recent years. This effort is unlikely to regain its favor, unless you find the idea of ​​John Cena receiving anal throating while leaning his massive upper body out of a car hysterically funny.

However, this is one of the highlights of the film written by Jarrad Bull and Andrew Mogill (D He trains) and directed by Matt Spicer, the latter of whom was previously responsible for the film Far Superior Ingrid Go west. This concept, or should I say high concept, involves a reunion between the uptight Rod (Cena), a real estate broker dealing with issues of sibling rivalry and newly starring in a reality TV series, and the very down-and-out Marcus (Andre), who he briefly mentored as big brother while in high school decades ago.

When Rod receives a call from the hospital that his brother has been seriously injured in an accident, he assumes they mean Josh (Christopher Meloni, unleashing his comedic side), his richer, more successful older brother, of whom he is intensely jealous. So he is shocked to discover that the patient is actually the former “little brother” he barely remembers. Rod wants nothing to do with Marcus, who is about to be released and has nowhere to go, but his good wife Deirdre (Michelle Monaghan) insists on bringing him home to recuperate.

“He may have to use a bedpan for a few days, until his bowels harden,” the nurse comments helpfully, right after Marcus’s catheter is completely removed, which is a very disgusting sight.

Note the inevitable tensions between the mismatched duo, as Rod desperately tries to find success with a TV show called “NYC Hustlers” while the likeable but inept Marcus ruins his life in predictable ways. Marcus, desperate to pee, is asked to wait in Rod’s beloved Porsche while filming a scene, and attempts to relieve himself through the car’s open window, with disastrous results. He also engages in a threesome in Rod’s home office and then has sex outside in the hallway while the elderly neighbors look on. (In fact, one of the film’s few funny conceits is that the women find Marcus irresistible.)

And in a desperate attempt to match the raunchy humor in moments like Jason Biggs making love to a pastry in American PieMarcus offers a frustrated Deidre some relationship advice to improve her marriage. He told her that anilingus was a “factory reset.” “If you want to get it out of his head, you have to get in his ass,” he said.

Long before Rod accidentally took narcotic drugs and nearly killed Josh, with Marcus having to perform an emergency tracheotomy, Little brother It has long worn out its welcome.

Cena, who has proven strong comedic abilities, doesn’t manage to make his slow, interminable persona entertaining here, while André does his usual antics that are supposedly an acquired taste. There are some funny artists in the margins, including Ego Nwodim (Saturday Night Live(and Caleb Herron)The devil wears prada 2) as TV production assistants, but they can’t do much.

If you haven’t guessed that by the end of the film, Rod learns to love and appreciate his titular brother, you haven’t been paying attention. And true to form, I mean form, the credits feature excerpts explaining that the actors had a much better time making the film than watching it.