Little Giants

A film set in an Ohio town. There are two brothers. Kevin O'Shea is the town's pride. He played football at college and won a trophy. Danny runs a petrol station. Nobody takes him seriously. Kevin coaches a children's team. It is the only team in town. Trials are held. Danny's daughter Becky comes too. She plays well. Better than anyone. Kevin does not pick her. The reason is plain: she is a girl. Danny is angry. He makes a decision: he will start his own team. From there the film is a story of gathering. Danny finds the children who were cut. None of them is any good. One wears glasses, one is frightened, one is heavy, one keeps falling over. There is another girl as well. The league makes a ruling. Two teams cannot be in the same town. There will be a game. The winning team stays. From there the film is a story of preparation. Training, tactics and ineptitude. Becky is the best player. She is given a nickname. Then a boy arrives. Junior has just moved to town and is very strong. Becky likes him and steps back from the game for a while. The narrative gives that as a mistake. What the narrative is interested in is not football but brothers: its idea is that two men are trying to settle a childhood account through children. The game takes the last half hour. There is a play. The narrative shows it early and uses it at the end. The ending is as expected. Some professional footballers appear as themselves. Duwayne Dunham directed. Rick Moranis, Ed O'Neill, Shawna Waldron and Devon Sawa are in the cast. Who it is for: anyone who likes 1990s family films and children's sports comedy. Who it is not for: anyone looking for novelty; the narrative applies every step of the genre in order.