MOVIE REVIEW

If seeing a guy get whacked in the privates doesn't make you laugh the first time, maybe it will the fourth, or the 24th time.

By Kevin Crust, Times Staff Writer

If seeing a guy get whacked in the privates doesn't make you laugh the first time, maybe it will the fourth, or the 24th time. In the off-putting, live-action cartoon "Little Man," the latest offering from the brothers Wayans, it's a fairly obvious gag to belabor, what with Marlon Wayans rendered, through the magic of cinematic deception, as a 2-foot, 6-inch Mini-Me, but obviousness is an ongoing theme here.

The Wayans brothers make high-concept, lowbrow comedies that pretty much defy review. While sometimes entering areas that might encourage satire or a point of view, they prefer to defiantly wield their humor like a blunt instrument, pummeling the audience with repetition in the hope that something sticks. In this case, the jokes rarely do.

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If you've seen the trailer for "Little Man," you know the gimmick. Marlon Wayans plays a criminal dwarf posing as a baby in order to retrieve a diamond he stole with his lunkheaded rap mogul-wannabe partner (Tracy Morgan). Brother Shawn Wayans plays a gullible man who desperately wants to be a father over the objections of his career-minded wife (Kerry Washington). Put the two together and you get a labored, extended gag reel that mines the neutered, PG-13 comedy that has become the brothers' stock in trade. The screenplay, written by Marlon and Shawn with director brother Keenen Ivory Wayans, is devoid of verbal wit, instead relying on a relentless stream of Looney Tunes-inspired violence.

*

"Little Man," rated PG-13 for crude and sexual humor throughout, language and brief drug references. Running time: 1 hour, 37 minutes. In general release.