"My Giant" is a pleasant, gentle movie, with some defects, but also containing some original ideas. The plot is divided into two conflicting parts. The first part, located in Rumania, is comic, with Sam (Billy Crystal) trying to convince the giant Max (Gheorghe Muresan) to become an actor. The second part, in the States, is sentimental (sometimes over-sentimental) and touching. Needless to say, I prefer the first part, which offers some really funny moments (NOT the vomit scene, which is, fortunately, the only coarseness in the film).
The sentimental part is a bit boring. Moreover, we find in it the cliche family troubles that (according to movies) any American male seems to have. But, in fairness, some developments of the story are original, unexpected and surprising, if not particularly cheerful.
I like Billy Crystal and I'm always amused by him. The character of the giant Max is depicted with extreme sympathy: Gheorghe Muresan shows that he can act.
A surprising peculiarity of "My Giant" is the great respect for Christian religion and priests (here monks), shown along the movie. This is really amazing. The trend in current movies is the exact contrary: Christian religious feelings are systematically scorned, and, in particular, priests are usually depicted as the hypocritical origin of all evil. Since I'm always fond of people swimming against the main stream, I heartily thank Billy Crystal and Gheorghe Muresan for having violated these annoying conventions.
The sentimental part is a bit boring. Moreover, we find in it the cliche family troubles that (according to movies) any American male seems to have. But, in fairness, some developments of the story are original, unexpected and surprising, if not particularly cheerful.
I like Billy Crystal and I'm always amused by him. The character of the giant Max is depicted with extreme sympathy: Gheorghe Muresan shows that he can act.
A surprising peculiarity of "My Giant" is the great respect for Christian religion and priests (here monks), shown along the movie. This is really amazing. The trend in current movies is the exact contrary: Christian religious feelings are systematically scorned, and, in particular, priests are usually depicted as the hypocritical origin of all evil. Since I'm always fond of people swimming against the main stream, I heartily thank Billy Crystal and Gheorghe Muresan for having violated these annoying conventions.