Billy Crystal, Kathleen Quinlan, Gheorghe Muresan
My Giant is being promoted as a family movie. Not a good idea. Partway through the film it becomes clear that the story's sweet-natured, intelligent behemoth (Muresan, a Romanian native who now plays for the NBA's Washington Wizards) is going to die from an enlarged heart. It's one thing for Bambi's cartoon mother to pass on, quite another for a human being to pop off permanently. "He's going to die?" the little girl behind me kept asking her mother. "Why?"
Well, kid, so that Crystal's character, a self-centered showbiz agent, can demonstrate what a caring, sensitive guy he is. He discovers the big fellow while on a business trip to Romania, brings him to the U.S. and gets him gigs as a pro wrestler and a movie villain before having to choose between the giant's health and his own career ambitions.
There are a few winning comic moments in Giant, but mostly it's more pathos than pratfalls. Crystal is trying too hard, Muresan's accent is darn thick, and Quinlan can do little with the wishy-washy role of Crystal's long-suffering wife. (PG)
Bottom Line: Big isn't better
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