Little Giants

As children, the O'Shea brothers were night and day: one a geeky little wimp and the other a popular football player. As adults, the trend continued and the football player was now a popular coach with a successful car dealership. But when the wimp's daughter gets rejected from her uncle's football team, the brothers must face off: wimps versus jocks. It's an underdog story!

I watched this film on Christmas 2007 with my best friend Chelsea, who freely admits to loving underdog kid sports films (which is evident if you know her love for "The Sandlot" and "The Might Ducks", as well). I don't really have that strong of an attachment, but they're fun if nothing else, and this one is definitely one of the more amusing ones, if for no other reason than the rampant stereotypes and solid cast.

Rick Moranis is the wimp brother, Danny O'Shea (not far from his role in "Honey I Shrunk the Kids") and Ed O'Neill is football star Kevin O'Shea (sort of like his role on "Married With Children"). The daughter/niece is Becky "Icebox" O'Shea, played by Shawna Waldron (who went on to appear in "The American President") and her love interest is Devon Sawa, playing quarterback Junior Floyd. Sawa is how I got "tricked" into watching this film, after his name was dropped during one of our many "Casper" conversations...

There's nothing really surprising about this film. I won't give it away by telling you the plot, but I will say it's a team of wimps against a team of quality players. You can probably guess how this works out, because all underdog sports movies basically work the same way. And you'll get the stereotypes here: tomboy who struggles with becoming a woman, fat kid who must be eating (and passing gas) in every scene... weakling with the overprotective mother. You can take away points for creativity, but you have to grant them that they've covered all the expected bases.

With the possible exception of one twist (which is predictable if you see the opening credits) and the presence of Harry Shearer with some great announcements ("Mr. Moe Mentum has a new address!") this is what you'd expect, and if you want what you expect, you'll love this film. I found it very fun and light-hearted (a good way to wind down Christmas). Would I watch it again? Yes.

Amazing. This is a good movie. It can be a little bit sappy, but it can mean a lot. You can quite easily psycho-analyze it to death, but if you just sit down, watch and enjoy, it's a good film. Becky/Icebox's conflict between being the two sides of herself, the tomboy and the girl is something a lot of girls have been through. And who wouldn't when the object of affection is Devon Sawa? There are decent performances all round, and it might not be destined to be a classic, but it's not a bad movie. In fact, it's a very good movie.

I loved this movie the first time I saw it in 3rd grade and I still love it. I'm not a big fan of sports based movies, but this movie I adore. Despite being a movie about football, it's a great movie for girls. Icebox kicks butt on the field but still has to deal with crushes. Not to mention it's great how she's discriminated against at first for being a girl, but then comes out on top as the best player in the entire movie, beating every guy who didn't think she could to it. The O'Shea brothers get some good banter going, but mostly it's about Icebox. It's a great movie. I love it to death.

This movie is just fun. It has a good message but its well crafted so as not to make it seem preachy as so many children's movies can be. I was 16 when this movie came out and I like it then and I like it now. How can anyone be opposed to a movie where the little guy proves that he can make it against the best. It's the American dream. While I certainly would not nominate this picture for an Oscar it is fun. This nice thing about this movie is that its pretty relevant for kids today so it has kind of a timeless quality to it. If you have kids or you are a big kid (like me) and feel like having a little light film fare, check it out, I think you'll enjoy it.

If you don't like the little giants on some level, then you're a robot. I know robots, don't be that guy. The little giants is cute, it's fun, and it's funny. It's about the kids who "weren't good enough" to make the select team, and who form their own team. Plotwise, there is nothing new about the film, and really, you're not going to be impressed by the "art of cinema." But put yourself there. Tell a child he isn't good enough, I dare you. It's a good family story about triumph and about overcoming the obstacles life throws at us, even at a young age. These aren't college kids, or pros, they're not even teenagers. The story is warm, inviting, sweet, and funny. Enjoy this film. Watch it with your kids, watch it with people you love, and do it for the kids. Peace.