THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, October 22, 1994 TAG: 9410220048
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 61 lines
``LITTLE GIANTS'' is yet another flick about how the nerds and the misfits come from behind to beat out the jocks of the world.
It's a tried, somewhat tired formula, but these kids are so engaging that it is painless to sit through the 105-minute running time (even though it might be a little long for very small children).
Rick Moranis, trying to find another hit after his ``Honey, I Shrunk the Kids'' breakthrough, plays a meek service station attendant who has spent his entire life living in the shadow of his cocky, football-star brother, played by Ed O'Neill. The entire town worships Ed, a Heismann Trophy winner and the only star the place has ever produced. Ed loves himself.
When Ed decides to coach a Pop Warner junior football team, he picks only the big kids. This leaves the misfits out in the cold with no football uniforms. One might wonder why they want all that bruising and battering, but the film, yet again, pushes across the dubious theory that athletics are the only way to express achievement.
Moranis, even though he calls the 50-yard line ``half court,'' agrees to coach the nerds in a playoff game against his brother's beefy mastodons.
His main weapon, and the movie's big find, is his tomboyish daughter, wonderfully played by Shawna Waldron. She is totally believable both as a girl who could tackle anyone on the other team and as a girl who begins wondering if she couldn't win the hunkish Junior more easily if she were a cheerleader. In the end, she's the rare heroine. Most of these roles go to boys.
There is reason to wonder how this slim premise can be stretched to feature length. The answer is subplots. Each team member has little traits that yield skits. One ``brain'' concocts plays with his computer. Another uses his helmet to store his lunch.
Moranis is merely more of his same act. This leaves the kids to save the pat and predictable plot. The big game, as always, inspires us to cheer for the underdogs.
If you've seen ``The Mighty Ducks'' or ``Rookie of the Year,'' you've seen this one before. If you liked those movies, you'll like this. It's a likable case of the little guys going into familiar territory. ILLUSTRATION: MOVIE REVIEW
``Little Giants''
Cast: Rick Moranis, Ed O'Neill, John Madden
Director: Duwayne Dunham
Screenplay: James Ferguson, Robert Schallcross, Tommy Swerdlow,
Michael Goldberg
Music: John Debney
MPAA rating: PG (little that is objectionable other than the
violence of the sport itself)
Mal's rating: **
Locations: Greenbrier and Movies 10 in Chesapeake; Circle 6 and
Main Gate in Norfolk; Lynnhaven Mall and Surf-N-Sand in Virginia
Beach
by CNB