Home of the Giants

Written and Directed by Rusty Gorman and starring Haley Joel Osment "Home of the Giants' proves to be more than just a basketball movie - it's a thriller full of suspense and action drama.

Haley Joel Osment is fantastic as 'Gar', Robert Gartland. Osment has successfully made the transition from cute to handsome. In "home of the Giants" he plays the role of a high school journalist who's best friend and 'hero', Matt Morrison (Ryan Merriman) is the school basketball team's star player. Both Osment and Merriman give excellent performances.

The friendship of these best friends is pushed to its limits when they become involved with Matt's criminal brother Keith (Kenneth Mitchell).

This coming-of-age film has plenty of twits and turns and will keep you in suspense right until the very end.

I bought this movie for my daughter who is a big Ryan Merriman fan. We thought it was another of those made for Disney Channel type films but I was personally surprised to learn that its actually a pretty well done film noir. Yeah, there are undertones of coming of age and teen sports movies but this is essentially a twisting and turning dark noir tale. The two primary characters played by Merriman and Osmet find themselves in one heckuva gosh awful mess involving robbery, severed fingers, surprises in the night, betrayal, and violence. The way its all resolved will probably astonish you just a bit. I got to say this film is pretty darn unique. I can't think of anything else like. It may not be a great movie but its definitely worth watching and you don't get much good film noir anymore. However, be advised, this is not a film for young kids who enjoyed Merriman in "The Luck of the Irish", or even "Elevator Girl." There are also some funny scenes to balance out some truly suspenseful stuff. Check it out for something different

School reporter Robert 'Gar' Gartland (Haley Joel Osment) is best friends with basketball star player Matt Morrison (Ryan Merriman). Gar is attracted to new student Bridgette Bachman (Danielle Panabaker) from California who doesn't understand the fascination with basketball in this Indiana school. Matt's older brother Keith (Kenneth Mitchell) who is estranged from their father gets out of jail early. Keith has a job for them to steal from a drug dealer. Matt pushes Gar to join in the caper. Things go wrong.

I really love the noirish crime drama in the middle of the movie. I don't like the happy ending which really screws up the tone of the story. I like Matt's relationship with Keith. Haley Joel Osment has not grown into a great actor. I love the hard-boiled crime thriller so much that I'm willing excuse a lot deficiencies in the rest of the movie.

This isn't exactly "Friday Night Lights" of basketball, but the town does seem to have a similar attitude. We do hear commentary about the team on the radio, and the whole town really cares about this team. Of course, a lot of the movie concerns Matt and Gar and their troubles.

This movie is a mix of styles. The first half isn't action and suspense, but the second half certainly provides plenty of both, and I'm not just talking about basketball. There is lots of excitement and one of the final scenes just had me on the edge of my seat.

And while it isn't a comedy, there is comedy here. One of Ryan Merriman's best scenes shows his lack of singing talent while he "auditions" for the school musical.

Haley Joel Osment used to be one of the best actors anywhere in his age group. He doesn't quite show that talent here, but toward the end you can see reminders that he was once one of the greats. At the beginning he is more cat-like. That is what that word meant, right?

Danielle Panabaker is also quite good. I mostly know her from "The Flash".

I won't give away the name of the bad guy who harasses Matt and Gar but it's just as well since I don't remember his name anyway. All you need to know he is really intimidating and very talented.

And Kenneth Mitchell is really good at being bad.

Where there is basketball there are also cheerleaders. The Giants have some pretty and talented cheerleaders, including girls who get thrown up in the air. And we get to see them (or at least some of them, since I'm not sure whether this is them or gym class) in the locker room, in underwear or towels.

The sports announcers, whose names I didn't see in the credits, definitely deserve mention. They are as professional as if they were calling a real game.

And, unfortunately, we get a brief glimpse at the great Dick Vitale along with Jay Bilas.

The music, for lack of a better word, seems targeted at kids in high school, which is logical. Still, the young stars like a couple of songs from when rock sounded good (did I say that? I don't even like rock music).

I didn't know part of this movie was filmed in North Carolina until I saw the credits, but certain things told me this was North Carolina, even though it was supposed to be Indiana. But right now I don't remember what those were.

It's a worthwhile effort.