(France) “Little Nicholas” is based on the iconic 60s French children’s book of the same name (“Le Petit Nicolas”), written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Jean-Jacques Sempé. These books appealed to kids (having fun with Nicholas and the gang) while also tossing wry sarcastic observations about adulthood toward the parents. Despite this history, director Laurent Tirard’s live-action version tends to lean more towards the former with only sprinkles of the latter.

The major plotline is narrated by little Nicholas himself (Maxime Godart), a boy who is too satisfied with his life to think of anything else he’d rather be when he grows up. Eventually, the comforts of his life come under threat by the daunting inevitability we call change, as represented by Nicholas’ belief that his parents (the excellent pair of Valérie Lemercier and Kad Merad) will soon have another child. His fears of abandonment prompts Nicholas to enlist his school pals—including the gluttonous Alceste (Vincent Claude), rich kid Geoffroy (Charles Vaillant), class dunce Clotaire (Victor Carles), and of course, the nerdy teacher’s pet Agnan (Damien Ferdel), all of which are portrayed here impressively—in order to help Nicholas take the baby out of the proverbial family picture.

Because there are no real consequences or rewards for Nicholas and his clique’s actions, it’s hard to invest any emotional ties to the characters. Everything is too neat, too squeaky-clean, too one-dimensional, and above all, way too overtly cute (the kids are dressed so immaculately it’s almost creepy), which are probably good things for parents looking for a well-made family film.

While the overall tone of the film is whimsically lighthearted, with vibrant colors, brightly-lit cinematography and a playful carnivalesque score, there are still snippets of dark absurdist comedy that Tirard sneaks in to the film—Nicholas’ point of view offers the picture a cute, naive children’s perspective (when Nicholas decides to run away, he wants to “go a long way away, like to China or Arcachon,” a French commune).

The comedy is by and large slapstick though, reminiscent of the amped up adorableness found in “The Little Rascals.” The film is littered with gags of visual, physical humor, none of which are particularly funny, save perhaps for a dinner scene in which Nicholas’ mother tries desperately hard to impress her husband’s boss with her false interest in 13th century Skaldic poetry. But on Nicholas’ side, the funniest part of the film also seems to be the saddest when the titular character, the least charming or humorous person in the entire film, realizes he wants to be a comedian when he grows up. I don’t know whether to laugh or cry at the irony of his vision, but like the film, it would be appropriate to simply dismiss it as just “cute.”