The Big Green is a 1995 Walt Disney Pictures film starring Steve Guttenberg and Olivia d'Abo, written and directed by Holly Goldberg Sloan. It also stars Bug Hall, Chauncey Leopardi, and Patrick Renna. The film is about the antics of a soccer team consisting of a misfit group of small town kids from Texas who are coached by a British teacher.
Plot[]
Teacher Anna Montgomery (Olivia d'Abo), who is on an exchange program from Surrey, England, is placed into a school in the tiny town of Elma, Texas. She struggles to connect with the children at first, as they believe they are underachievers after receiving the lowest test scores in the state for four years running. She is also shocked to learn that the children think very little of everything. So instead of teaching geography to the inattentive class, Ms. Montgomery breaks the globe in an attempt to introduce the kids to a new game. After some confusion, the children begin to learn the game of soccer. Then at the end of the first session, Ms. Montgomery tells them that they have been entered into a league in Austin, Texas, but their first game was the next day. At this point, the town Sheriff's Deputy Tom Palmer (Steve Guttenberg) becomes co-coach.
The team travels to Austin to play against the Knights, who are the state champions and undefeated for that season. Because none of the kids have learned the rules, they do not know how to play and lose 18-0. They lose heart and do not want to play anymore, until they discover the talent of new classmate Juan Morales (Anthony Esquivel), but have to persuade his mother to let him play. Once Juan joins the team, they go on a remarkable run to the finals, with a record of eight wins, two losses, and one tie, and in the finals they meet the Knights for a rematch. As the town goes crazy for the final, hometown boy and the new Knights coach Jay Hoffer (Jay O. Sanders) returns to Elma, and finds in the bar the drunken father of Kate Douglas, one of the players, and he gives Hoffer information which leads to an investigation by the Sheriff that he assigns to Deputy Palmer that ultimately forces Juan and his mother to flee for their safety as Mrs. Morales was an illegal immigrant and would be deported if the truth came to light, leading to the U.S. Border Patrol and INS looking for her. Kate, having seen Deputy Palmer at the Morales' trailer earlier before the Morales fled, is left furious with both him, and her father when she learns of his part in the situation and his racist remarks about Juan, essentially disowning him before leaving the house in anger. Montgomery catches up with Kate later and convinces her to give Deputy Palmer and her father another chance and to stay on the team for the championship match against the Knights.
On the day of the final, Deputy Palmer goes looking for Juan to help the team in the final, and by halftime the team is down 2-0. With 10 minutes to play, there is an injury to a Knights player, and in this time Juan returns with Deputy Palmer and his mother. He is substituted into the game immediately. He sets up Elma's first goal, and with the last kick of the match, scores the equalizer himself. The game then goes into a 5-shot shootout, and after the first three shots are scored by each team, both teams miss their fourth kick. In the final kick, the Knights captain, top scorer in the league and son of the coach, Jay Hoffer Jr., steps up to take the final kick. The Big Green goalie Larry Musgrove (Patrick Renna), who suffered from visions of the opposition players becoming "monsters," became a "monster" in his fantasy to psych out the opponent and save the kick. The final kick for the championship was to be taken by the Big Green's smallest, and youngest player, Newt Shaw (Bug Hall). As he runs in to take the kick, he slips, but still sails the ball into the bottom left corner, giving the championship to the Big Green. Afterwards, per a bet that Huffer made with Montgomery before the match, since the Knights lost, Huffer had to kiss Ernie, the Big Green's goat mascot, much to his disgust.
At the beginning of the film, there was a billboard for the town's only other sporting success, in American football, but the end of the movie shows a new billboard, one documenting the success of the Big Green, and also a sticker saying they had the highest test scores in the state.
Cast[]
- Patrick Renna as Larry Musgrove
- Steve Guttenberg as Deputy Sheriff Tom Palmer
- Jay O. Sanders as Coach Jay Huffer
- John Terry as Edwin V. Douglas
- Chauncey Leopardi as Evan Schiff
- Olivia d'Abo as Miss Anna Montgomery
- Billy L. Sullivan as Jeffrey Luttrell
- Yareli Arizmendi as Marbelly Morales
- Bug Hall as Newt Shaw
- Jessica Robertson as Kate Douglas
- Jordan Brower as Nick Anderssen
- Libby Villari as Brenda Neilson
- Anthony Esquivel as Juan Morales
- Hayley Kolb as Sophia Convertino
- Haley Miller as Polly Neilson
- Ashley and Ariel Welch as Lou and Sue Gates
- Jimmy Higa as Tak
- Gil Glasgow as Cookie Musgrove
Box office[]
The film was shot near and around Austin, Texas. It was released in U.S. theaters on September 29, 1995, taking in $4,688,285 on its opening weekend. The total box office revenue for it was $17,725,500.
Reception[]
While gaining a strong cult following, The Big Green was heavily panned by critics, earning a 0% on Rotten Tomatoes. Many critics complained that the film was too much like Disney's Mighty Ducks franchise.
Gallery[]
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