Little Giants
Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill are great as two feuding brothers in this enjoyable, but all too predictable youth football comedy.
PRE-GAME 🏈
Welcome back to Balls on Film! 👋🏻
I hope everyone has had a great week! After last week’s heavier-than-expected Friday Night Lights, I was looking forward to some levity with Little Giants. I’d heard it described by some as ‘The Sandlot for American Football’, which is a pretty lofty statement. Does it live up to such bold expectations? Let’s find out.
This one is inspired by Via Marsh’s awesome feature on the best PB&J sandwiches in film, which is a must-read. Check it out below:
I really enjoyed reading this new post from
over on , which consists of a roundup of what she’s been watching recently. I’ve added a bunch of stuff to my watchlist after reading it, although I cannot possibly agree with the Traitors US as a recommendation (sorry, Maria! 😂). As someone who’s a big fan of the UK series, I found the American version unwatchable. Does anyone else agree? Please, if you’re in the US and like the show, watch the UK version instead. It’s far superior in every way. I couldn’t tolerate the US version for more than half an episode before I had to turn it off.
With that, it’s about time for kick-off!
FIRST HALF 🏈
Let’s answer the question right away - Little Giants doesn’t quite live up to the claim of being ‘The Sandlot for American Football’, but it’s an enjoyable, if all too predictable family film nonetheless.
Little Giants tells the story of two brothers, Danny (Rick Moranis) and Kevin O’Shea (Ed O’Neill), whose sibling rivalry sees them coaching opposing peewee football teams in their small town. Kevin, a former football star and Heisman Trophy-winner, coaches the town’s elite peewee team, while Danny, the underdog brother often overshadowed by Kevin’s success, forms a ragtag team of outcasts after his daughter Becky (Shawna Waldron) is cut from Kevin’s team.
The film was inspired by a 1992 SuperBowl commercial that Steven Spielberg liked so much that he hired the ad’s creator to write the film script.
The plot is nothing you haven’t seen before. It’s the same underdog story that makes up the core of most kids sports movies. It’s in the characters where the film’s strengths lie, though. Rick Moranis and Ed O’Neill have great chemistry, and are so believable as brothers who grew up on different ends of the scale in terms of social status and popularity. Moranis portrays Danny with plenty of warmth and humour, and is the loving and understanding father figure to Becky. O’Neill brings just the right balance of arrogance and charm, but never veers into outright villain territory. He’s so watchable that you can’t help but like him, despite his traditional mindset about what it means to be an athlete and his over-inflated ego.
While some of the jokes can feel a bit lazy and juvenile, there’s some standout moments that had me properly belly-laughing. The introduction of Spike and his maniac father is surreal, but brilliantly done. Watching Ed O’Neill almost tackle his wife in their living room and crash through a window is so over-the-top, but works to highlight his obsessive, winning-above-all-else mentality. Oh, and there’s the scene that inspired this whole review - the PB&J sandwich in the helmet scene near the beginning, during which Kevin O’Shea proclaims that puffed Cheetos are for wimps (the sacrilege! Puffed Cheetos should always be the only choice). There’s more than a few moments that brought a big smile to my face.
The young cast also deserves praise, particularly Shawna Waldron as Becky. Her determination to prove herself in a male-dominated sport, and also having to grapple with pressures to conform to more traditional expectations of femininity add a welcome layer of complexity to the story. The film explores what it’s like for a young girl to explore passions and hobbies in a world that has outdated ideas about gender roles, particularly in sports. I loved her relationships with both her Dad and Uncle too, and how they both shape her character in different ways. There’s one scene in particular between Becky and her uncle in a diner later in the film that’s one of the film’s best, and shows Kevin in a very different light.
The casting is terrific too, and while some of the younger cast of characters slot right into the stereotypical roles you often see in these movies, they all play their parts very well. I absolutely loved the opening scene that features younger Danny and Kevin. The actor portraying a young Danny is just spot on, and if you’d told me I was looking at Rick Moranis as a kid, I’d have believed you!
Where Little Giants falls short is in its formulaic plot. It’s not a bad film by any mean. In fact, there’s a lot that I enjoyed here and would probably watch it again, but it’s the typical underdog sports movie that you’ve seen dozens of times already, and you’ll see every beat in the story coming from a mile away. You know how the film is going to end before the story even properly gets going. Some of the humour can feel a bit lazy at times too, but it is more aimed at kids. Becky’s journey, and the strained relationship between the two brothers are the film’s strongest elements, but everything around it is very by-the-numbers.
Overall, Little Giants is a fun family movie that doesn’t do anything to shake up the genre, and falls into all too familiar territory at times. Despite the overly-predictable nature of the story, there’s some great, positive messages here and the sibling rivarly between Moranis and O’Neill is fun to watch. Becky is the standout character, but most of the other kid characters feel pretty paper-thin by comparison. It’s a great gateway sports movie for kids though, and younger audiences are bound to have loads of fun with it.
Little Giants is available to rent or buy via most digital stores.
HALFTIME 🏈
Let’s take a break for halftime.
Here’s what else I’ve been watching this week:
Ted Lasso - Season 1, Episode 4 - ‘For The Children’ (Apple TV+)
In episode 4 of the series, Rebecca hosts the team’s annual charity benefit, where Ted stages a reconciliation between Roy and Jamie. This is an important episode, as it’s where we are first introduced to Rupert (Anthony Head), Rebecca’s devious ex-husband who, until now, has existed in name-only within the show. I loved that they kept his reveal until the fourth episode. By bringing him in once the rest of the characters are already established, it sets him up as the immediate villain - despite what Rebecca is still planning behind Ted’s back. It also highlights more of Rebecca’s vulnerabilities and leads to a very sweet moment between her and Ted, where he lets her know that he knows exactly the type of person Rupert is. It adds more complex layers to the Rebecca sabotage story that will play out over the rest of the season. This episode also is the starting point for the Roy/Keeley relationship, and features a key scene between Ted and Nate that will also become important later. I’ve said it before, but the way this show slowly plants seeds for future plot points is nothing short of masterful.
Ted Lasso is available to stream on Apple TV+
The Instigators (Apple TV+)
I enjoyed this more than I thought I would, and overall it was light, fun, but ultimately forgettable fare. Matt Damon and Casey Affleck take part in a heist that goes disastrously wrong. The cast is absolutely stacked, and Damon and Affleck are effortlessly funny together. 10-15 years ago, this would have been a cinema release, and it’s still strange to see these types of film land directly to streaming. The Instigators won’t set the world alight, but it’s a fun way to spend 90+ minutes.
Streaming on Apple TV+ now.
Trap
My pick for comedy of the year. Trap is ridiculously dumb, but oh so entertaining and one of the most fun cinema experiences I’ve had in ages. It was very much a film of two halves for me, with the first being the most entertaining. It goes off the rails a bit after that, but Josh Hartnett is so damn good here and holds it all together.
In cinemas now.
Cuckoo
After reluctantly moving to the German Alps with her Dad and his new family, Gretchen (Hunter Schafer) discovers that their new town isn’t quite what it seems. Schafer is great, and the sense of unease throughout the film is so well-crafted. Some elements felt a bit overstuffed and underbaked though, and some of the other acting felt a bit stilted. Overall, it was a bizzare and atmospheric horror with a creepy setting that just falls short of being great.
In cinemas now.
I don’t usually cover sports movie news here, but the recent news that Nicolas Cage is set to play John Madden in an upcoming biopic certainly caught my attention. What’s interesting is that it’s going to focus more on the creation of the Madden NFL video game franchise than purely on the life of Madden himself. I’m on board with whatever Nic Cage does at this stage of his career, and I can’t wait to see how this turns out.
As usual, let me know what you’re watching or what you’re planning to go see. Let’s get back on to the field!
SECOND HALF 🏈
Let’s jump into some awards and bonus content.
BEST SCENE 🏆
The Spike recruitment scene made me laugh a lot.
“Every night before he goes to bed, I massage his hamstrings with evaporated milk” - Great stuff. 😆
BEST LINE 🏆
Steve Emtman: Just remember, football is 80% mental and 40% physical.
Steve channelling his inner Yogi Berra with this one!
MVP AWARD 🏆
As good as the two adults are, it’s got to be Becky. She has the most interesting character journey in the film, and adds an extra layer of complexity to the story that elevates it as a whole.
IMDB TRIVIA HIGHLIGHT 🏆
Ed O'Neill agreed to play Kevin in order to allow his two young daughters something to watch that he starred in and was family friendly. At the time he was still popular for playing Al Bundy on the more adult Married With Children (1987) and wanted to do a project for his kids they could watch. When he was offered this movie he wholeheartedly accepted. His children were also fans of Rick Moranis' Honey I Shrunk the Kids (1989) and Honey I Blew Up the Kid (1992) so he also jumped at an opportunity to work alongside Moranis.
BONUS FEATURE 💿
Here’s some archive footage of the cast talking about the story, and about making the movie.
POST-GAME 🏈
Next week, it’s time for something completely different with BASEketball. A movie about a made-up sport, but a sport’s movie nonetheless!
I’m off to see Alien: Romulus tonight, which I’m extremely excited for. I’ll share my thoughts on it at halftime next week too, along with more Ted Lasso and another sports-adjacent film from the vaults.
Let me know what you’ve been watching, and what you thought of Little Giants too.
See you next week! 👋🏻
~James
I watched this so many times as a kid. My favorite part was when the one kid managed to score a touchdown with his hands glued together.
This movie is directed by Duwayne Dunham, who edited "Return of the Jedi" and "Blue Velvet" and directed several episodes of the original "Twin Peaks" and edited "The Return." After he worked with David Lynch, he got into directing family films, which is a pretty wild career turn.
I really enjoyed the detail of how you wrote this review. I somehow missed this sports movie and will definitely be seeking it out after reading your review.