STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS 

OF LITTLE GIANTS

"Little Giants" (1994) 

 Directed by Dwayne Dunham

   If you watch a Family/Kids Film as an adult and you don't have children, it's usually due to nostalgia. If you didn't watch that film as a kid and see it for the first time as an adult, it can be tricky. Sometimes a Kids Film can be written and performed so incredibly smart that it appeals to all ages, but that's rarely the case.

   I watched "Little Giants" for the first time, last night. Here's a brief synopsis (with a spoiler), Two brothers: One, an ex-Football star is a small town celebrity (Kevin O'Shea, played by Ed O'Niell) and the other lives in his shadow (Danny O'Shea, played by Rick Moranis). Both are fathers. Danny's daughter, Becky tries out for a Pee Wee Football team that is coached by her Uncle Kevin who doesn't let her onto the team despite how great and powerful she is. She even has a Football sounding nickname: "Icebox".

   Danny starts a rival Pee Wee Football team to give his daughter a team to play on, thus starting the rivalry between the two teams and two brothers. A fart joke here and an "Ouch My Balls!" joke there and the two teams play each other at the end and the underdogs win. It's exactly what you'd expect.

   As I was watching this, I was initially disappointed that what I feared could happen, did. The risk of hoping a Children's Film that I'd never seen before, would entertain me as an adult, had not payed off. Being that it's a comedy, I'm hoping to laugh. I discovered that although these jokes may make it's young audience giggle, these jokes weren't landing for me. I never give up on a film though. If I start a film, I stick with it. It wasn't long before I realized that there was a shift happening in my mind that I had not expected. I started to care for the characters and decided that although this movie didn't work for me as a comedy, it did work for me as a drama.

   The two characters that I had become invested in (Danny and "Icebox") had me hooked. This is partly due to Rick Moranis' endearing performance, and also because I myself am a misfit. I can't help but to cheer for the people that would unlikely win in real life, but can overcome great odds in the magical world of movies.

   I'm not a sports fan. I am however, a fan of Pro-Wrestling (which is more scripted theater than sport). A wrestling match becomes interesting based on the story that leads to it. With real sports, there's no story. It's just competing and qualifying (or at least, that's how I see it). But with Sports Films, there's a story behind it. So, by the time I get to the big game, I care who wins.
   Director, Dwayne Dunham captures the all too real feeling that you may not be good enough just the way you are. The pressure to prove oneself with something as silly as a Pee Wee Football game becomes important. The fact that it's a Family Sports film, gave me the advantage of knowing that the underdogs would win. Sometimes the stress of everyday life can be too heavy of a burden to carry while watching something that's supposed to take my mind off my troubles. I'm grateful to be able to watch something every once and awhile that's designed to make me feel good at the end.

   From a Film & TV Geek's standpoint: It's hard for me to not come to this movie without the bias of having strong positive feelings for it's two leads
   I'm a huge "Married With Children" fan. It's neat to see Ed O'Niell play a character that got to live out the Football dream that Al Bundy never got to. If Al went pro after high school, would this have been his fate?
   Seeing Rick Moranis in old films now, feels like a treat. I've always loved him growing up, but I took his presence for granted and assumed he'd be around forever. I never thought he'd take an extended break from acting on screen, at the young age of 44.
   Although Ed O'Niell and Rick Moranis have comedic moments, for the most part they play their roles straight, allowing the child actors to be the funny stars of this story. By the time my mind decided to treat this film as a drama, the jokes that these kids were delivering played to me as normal child behavior. Kids are goofy. This is how I expect them to act.

   Also in the film as one of the young football players is a 15 year old Devon Sawa (playing a character that I'm guessing is supposed to be around ten years old).
   "Little Giants" has more layers to the plot than I touched upon, but I feel like the last person to have seen it and that everything I didn't talk about you already know. 

   I never write what I consider to be a "Hot Take" review, in that I've only seen this movie once. But what the heck. If I don't write about a Kid's Football Movie from 25 years ago, who will?