The Minis is a wonderful combination of the theme of realizing a dream, no matter what the odds, and it also entertains the viewer with many comedic moments. Roger (Joe Gnoffo) is a little man who is the father of a normal sized son, Chris. He loves playing basketball and he encourages Chris to pursue a scholarship to do the same. But does Chris truly respect his father, and is basketball his father’s dream, and not his own? He calls his dad by his first name, Roger. Yet their relationship develops and matures as the movie progresses.
Chevy is another little man character (portrayed by Gabriel Pimentel) who likes a tall blonde and wants to date her. There is a problem, however, and that is that she has a boyfriend. Chevy doesn’t seem to realize that the lady he shares his feelings with, Lorraine, a lady who works at a diner, has feelings for him.
Roger and Chevy join forces with their friends, George and Nick, to see about forming their own basketball team. They decide they need to get a tall player to be the fifth member of the team, and they wind up reaching out to Dennis Rodman, “the Worm,” as their wishful choice to complete their dream team. Dennis has an agent named Jack (Richard Portnow) and he immediately dreams of making big bucks off this unusual mini basketball team. We know he plans to exploit them when he continues to mistakenly call them “midgets” and even refers to them as Sleepy, Dopey, Grumpy, and Sneezy.
The movie does a good job in both having fun with the plot, but it also makes a firm point—and that is that small adults want to live “normal” lives like everyone else. A funny moment occurs when the tall blonde that Chevy likes says she’s from Paris, but we learn it isn’t Paris, France, but Paris, Texas!
During a serious moment in the film, Chevy says people call him “cute” or “baby doll” but says, “I don’t think they really like me.” He adds he wants to have an operation to make him taller, to which Roger replies, “No, not that again!” Despite the brief humorous moment, it is apparent that most, if not all, little people wish for that at one point or another.
At one point in the film when Roger, Chevy, Nick and George are together at a diner, and discussing playing basketball together, one of them says, “Do you realize the last time we played basketball Charles Barkley had hair?!” Another fun moment occurs when the four Minis tell Rodman they’re big fans of his. “BIG ones?” he asks. It is truly a tongue-in-cheek moment.
When the Minis begin to make a name for themselves and clinch a spot at a major basketball tournament, it is then that the tall blonde begins to date Chevy. But it is apparent it is his possible winnings and money she is after. And during the course of the film Roger and his son Chris finally have a heart-to-heart talk and we learn what Chris’s dream is for his career, to be a clown? Does Roger get behind his dream to attend clown school in Paris, France?
A nice line comes from one of the mini basketball players who says his father used to say anything was possible, any dream, if one believed it. The movie maintains that nice balance between being entertaining and funny, while emphasizing that size should never stop a person from realizing his or her dream. In a nice photo montage, we see Rodman and the players dressed in colorful flowery shirts, as well as dress suits. They make the newspapers as well. When they’re seen dancing near the conclusion of the film, with bigger people, the point is made—they can do what everyone else does.
The team practices hard and another fine point is made—hard work is required to reach one’s dreams. Rodman sticks with the team all the way, even after first saying when he met them, “Time is money. I don’t have the time and you don’t look like you have the money!” We won’t spoil the ending of the movie but let’s just say it is a very close game. We will tell you that the Minis earn the respect of the crowd. There are a couple of innuendos in the movie, along with the nice themes of going for one’s dream, and therefore the film has earned our Dove seal for Ages 12+.
The Dove Take
This movie may be about small people, but is big in heart and entertainment and is a fun watch — with several laughs to boot.
