Movies / My Giant (1998)

This Billy Crystal vehicle suffers from too much sentimentality that competes with the outrageous physical comedy, but still manages to be funny enough to be worth a look. Crystal plays a shallow sports agent on tour in Eastern Europe, smarting from the separation from his wife and kid, when he literally crashes into a discovery that might resurrect his career. He finds a giant in a rural town (NBA Basketball player Gheorghe Muresan) and takes him back to America in the hopes of exploiting his find, but soon discovers that loyalty and being true to the things that are important to him are what really matters. It's the physical comedy and the contrast between the titanic Muresan and the diminutive Crystal that sustains the movie beyond its premise. Crystal's personality and Muresan's genuine nature make My Giant rise above its gimmicky nature. --Robert Lane