Parents' Guide to Little Big Mouth

Although a few incidental musical performances by attractive actors are agreeable enough, this unconvincing story has almost nothing else to recommend it. So much of this is repellant, for attitudes about unhoused people, for misleading implications about how easy it is to kick an alcohol addiction or launch a successful musical career, and for making it seem as if arrogance and charm somehow make someone attractive. Time after time the 9-year-old is portrayed as exceptionally smart. So why does he suddenly think medicine he's seen his grandfather take many times is "candy"? When he grinds it up and sprinkles the dangerous medication on his ice cream, it makes no sense. When he tries to make a fire in a barbecue to bake a pizza, we know that he knows better, and again, it makes no sense. Siya is a liar, arrogant, irresponsible, and unapologetic. What arc of improvement does he undergo that could lead to his attracting a terrific woman? Why does Mel like him? How could she consider bringing him home to her young son?

Also absurd is the treatment of an adult with an alcohol problem. It seems to just disappear without any effort at all. Last but most annoying, over a year and a half, The Beatles played gigs 250 nights, sometimes four shows a night, to perfect their act and prepare for success. Here, Siya and Mel decide to form a duo and in one short year they successfully play to a huge crowd. No one's buying that.