Billy Crystal wants to be big. He's an agent with one client, a kid he found and developed, and is now firing him at a film shoot in Rumania (actually the Czech Republic). So he drives off in an angry stew, totals his car in a river, and is rescued by a some one physically big: Gheorghe Muresan; if you were a basketball fan in the 1990s, apparently you would know this 2.31-meter tall player. Billy gets him a part in the movie, then takes him on a mid-life bildungsroman across the United States.
Apparently Crystal got the idea when he worked with Andre the Giant on THE PRINCESS BRIDE. While the idea is a good one, there are three major problems with the movie. First, 50-year-old Crystal is too old to play the emotionally stunted post-adolescent here. Second, we don't really begin to gain any sense of emotional value of the two leads until the last twenty minutes of this mildly bloated comedy. Third, Muresan's accent makes him hard to understand, and as an actor, he's the winner of the 1995-1996 NBA Most Improved Player award.
There is some depth in this Billy Crystal vehicle, but alas, he has done it before and better. Director Michael Lehmann doesn't seem to produce any scenes with real emotional depth, despite the presence of Kathleen Quinlan.
Apparently Crystal got the idea when he worked with Andre the Giant on THE PRINCESS BRIDE. While the idea is a good one, there are three major problems with the movie. First, 50-year-old Crystal is too old to play the emotionally stunted post-adolescent here. Second, we don't really begin to gain any sense of emotional value of the two leads until the last twenty minutes of this mildly bloated comedy. Third, Muresan's accent makes him hard to understand, and as an actor, he's the winner of the 1995-1996 NBA Most Improved Player award.
There is some depth in this Billy Crystal vehicle, but alas, he has done it before and better. Director Michael Lehmann doesn't seem to produce any scenes with real emotional depth, despite the presence of Kathleen Quinlan.