Usually it’s good form to support the little people, the assumption being that they need all the help they can get. But if it’s a choice between an audience having to suffer Jack Black or them, then they deserve all that they get in this dire flick.

It’s modern day NYC and Gulliver (Black) is the goofy guy who works in the mail room. He has a crush on Darcy (Amanda Peet), a travel editor of a publication. In an unusual moment of bravery, he approaches her in her office with the intention of finally revealing his feelings towards her. True to form however, it doesn’t exactly go to plan; instead he inadvertently applies for a writing position.

This mix up soon sees Gulliver on a boat, all on his lonesome, heading off to Bermuda to do a quirky piece for the mag. While all at sea, he comes across some peculiar weather in the triangle area that knocks him for six. He awakes, on a beach, restrained. He is surrounded by a group of teeny weenie people, who have taken him prisoner.

Even with his obvious height and size advantage, they still manage to take him back to their realm of Lilliput. It’s there that he meets its king (Billy Connolly) and Queen (Catherine Tate) and he learns to slowly but surely fit in. Not everyone is happy with his arrival though; Edward (Chris O’Dowd), the head of the king’s army, would like nothing more than to bring Gulliver down a peg or two. And even though he’s a giant amongst small men, Gulliver soon has some big challenges to face.

Just when you thought that Jack Black’s larger than life persona couldn’t be watered down any further, he turns up in this. Whatever comic edge there may have been to his acting, has since been eroded, only to be replaced with this hideous PG friendly caricature. To all intent and purposes he’s nothing more than Sesame Street’s Big Bird without the costume to hide in.

His character spends most of the time knuckle-bumping with other characters as a form of approval (what happened to just patting someone on the back?) or even worse, singing. If you like to hear Black sing, then go buy a Tenacious D album, but for the love of God someone make him stop bursting into song in films.

To make matters worse, the film has an impressive amount of British actors involved, with the likes of Connolly and Tate, as well as Emily Blunt and James Corden, whose considerable talents are all woefully wasted.

The only positive thing that could be said for it is that it’s a great ad for...well, that’s it, it’s a great ad. Despite its far-flung location, Lilliput can still be found under the evil shadow of commercialism; It’s been a while since a film has so shamelessly inflicted product placement on an audience. So much so that in places it feels less like a film and more an advert for the latest Argos catalogue.

Previous to this, Rob Letterman has only directed animated projects (Monsters vs Aliens, Shark Tale ), and on this evidence, he should really stick to cartoons, with performances flat and dialogue even flatter.

All in all this sad effort only manages to reaffirm the old adage: size doesn’t matter, it’s what you do with it that counts – and this counts for absolutely nothing. The only area it does impress in terms of bulk is in being the biggest pile of pants released in a very long while.