Sports movies typically involve some sort of underdog who must overcome some pretty stiff odds in order to take down someone or something that has dominated them or their sport. The story has been done and redone in nearly every sport, and some of the films end up being winners, while others fall flat. For every Hoosiers out there, there is also a Baseketball, so you never know exactly what you are going to get. Little Giants is a film that came out in 1994, and roughly follows the same formula of the underdog needing to have their day in the spotlight. Ultimately a very predictable story, this is a cute kid film that is tailor-made to be an ABC Family movie, and has all of the qualities that are necessary to get kids interested in it.

At the heart of the story, Kevin O'Shea is returning to his home town after having a successful career in football. Having stared on the high school team in this town, and then moving through college and to the pros, he is a local hero. His return is a big day for this small town, and he is quickly scooped up to coach the towns Pee-Wee football team. The kids in the town have been working up an excitement for this, and it includes a girl named Becky, who is the standout star of the group. But, when Kevin O'Shea is putting the team together, he leaves her and her immediate friends off of the team, saying that they are not good enough, and that he will not have a girl playing on his football team. Ed O'Neill is in the role as this O'Shea brother and does a good job of being the rough and tumble coach.

On the other side of things, Rick Moranis plays the brother who has always been in the shadow of the infamous Kevin. Danny O'Shea is also the father of Becky, whom Kevin would not allow to play on the cities team. This causes a quick rift between the brothers, and seeing just how much Becky wants to play, decides to coach a second team within their city. To do this, he is going to have Becky and all of her friends, along with any other kids from the town they can scoop up, join the team. Unfortunately, the league rules state that there can only be one team from a given city, so the O'Shea brothers decide to let their teams decide on the field who will get to play in the league. This sets up a battle between the players everyone wanted, and the kids who just wanted a chance to play.

Of course the lesson of the movie is really about giving every kid the chance to play a game which they really love. That it doesn't matter if you are the most talented kid in town, and it doesn't matter if you are a football star, but that if you want to play football, you should be able to. The kids banding together and coming together under Moranis as a coach leads to a lot of funny moments, and provides the viewer with a lot of lessons on humility, and giving everyone a fair chance. This is a really good family movie, and it is because of that reason that I recommend it. However, I don't think it has the best acting, and it was way too predictable for my taste, so it only ends up getting two stars from me. If you are in the market for a cute, innocent movie about some underdog kids, Little Giants could be the film for your family.

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This is an entry in Lean-n-mean IV being hosted by Sleeper54.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS