Where to watch Little Giants
3 Stars
In Urbania, Ohio, snobby ex-football star Kevin O’Shea conducts try-outs for the town’s Peewee football team, the Urbania Cowboys, which will compete for a chance at the state Peewee football playoffs. Kevin slights his younger brother Danny O’Shea by rejecting Danny’s daughter Becky “Icebox” O’Shea, who is a good player. Kevin rejected her simply because she’s a girl. Becky and some of her friends, boys who were also rejected, get the idea to start up their own team, to be coached by Danny. After Kevin tries to put a stop to that plan, Danny gets Kevin to agree to a game to decide which team will represent Urbania, because each town is allowed only one team. Danny and Becky scour the town in search of willing players, and they gather a crew of kids who have limited skills and no team spirit. They luck out when Becky discovers Junior Floyd expertly passing rolls of toilet paper right into a shopping cart at the supermarket, as though he’s passing a football. With Becky and Junior on board, the new team, the Giants, has a chance to make a good showing, and they begin their training. But low morale continually threatens to break up the team. A chance visit by former NFL football coach John Madden and four NFL football stars — Steve Entman, Bruce Smith, Emmitt Smith, and Tim Brown — leaves the team with several tips on how to create an advantage. Becky develops a crush on Junior Floyd, and she’s jealous when her cheerleader cousin Debbie flirts with Junior. Becky decides to compete for Junior on equal terms, so she puts on make-up and a cheerleader outfit, joining the cheerleaders and abandoning the team. But the Cowboys will be coming into the game with a vicious new player named Spike Hammersmith. Will Becky be there for the team if they need her?
Little Giants is a family comedy featuring a great cast, a relatable concept, and genuine laughs. Ed O’Neil, often cast as a villain, and Rick Moranis are convincing as loving brothers stuck in a long-standing sibling rivalry centered around football. While the movie isn’t highly original, it’s an enjoyable, inoffensive, and often humorous film. The inclusion of two cranky men who frequent a local diner and are obsessed with a pee-wee playoff game adds a nice element to the otherwise predictable story.
Ultimately, the entire story hinges on the outcome of a big game, which dominates the last twenty minutes of the movie. This sequence is well-shot by Janusz Kaminski, Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning collaborator, and delivers an exciting conclusion. It’s likely that younger children aged 8 to 14 will be entertained by the antics of the youthful cast, while parents will likely find humor in O’Neil’s portrayal of an overbearing football fanatic.
Directed by: Duwayne Dunham
Written by: James Ferguson, Robert Shallcross, Tommy Swerdlow
Starring: Rick Moranis, Ed O’Neill, Shawna Waldron