Little Boy

In a tiny coastal California town during World War II, a boy (Jakob Salvati), bullied and put-upon for his small size, befriends the town's only Japanese resident (Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa), who is likewise persecuted. Written (poorly) by Pepe Portillo and Alejandro Monteverde (who also directs, at an excruciating crawl), the movie is a symphony of false notes. A few good actors (Emily Watson, Tom Wilkinson, Kevin James, Ben Chaplin, Ted Levine, Michael Rapaport) and several bad ones (to whom it would be a kindness not to name) grapple with the lines of puerile drivel they're given to speak, with a unanimous lack of success. The movie lumbers on for 100 minutes with hardly a believable frame to show for it. Andrew Cadelago's bright, squeaky-clean cinematography adds to the atmosphere of sugary falsehood. J.L.