billy crystal reappears in yet another high concept comedy . 
he tries to infuse some life into it , but it gets bogged down with sentimentality and a lack of sophistication . 
sammy ( billy crystal ) is a struggling agent at the end of his ropes . 
he's separated from his wife , serena ( kathleen quinlan ) , and down to his last serious client . . . in a low-budget film shooting in romania . 
but in a turn of bad luck , sammy wrecks his car . . . only 
to be mysteriously saved by a giant ( gheorghe muresan ) . 
but this giant has a heart of gold . 
he leads a solitary life , helping out the monks at a local monastery . 
his only longing is for his long lost love , lilianna ( joanna pacula ) , who has since moved to america . 
sammy , seeing a golden ticket , convinces max to become an actor ( represented by sammy , of course ) , and come back to america . 
and so sam and max bounce from pathetic job to pathetic job , with sammy dangling a meeting with lilianna as a carrot before max's nose . 
but slowly sammy's deceptions begin to haunt him . 
but will he develop a conscience before the innocent max becomes disillusioned . 
the humor in my giant isn't the world's greatest . 
mostly , it falls under the category of " boy . . . he's 
so big ! " , 
and that can only go so far , no matter how hard the talent tries . 
still , its slightly amusing parts are longed for when the movie gets bogged down in sappy moments . 
the film's best moment ( and that's not saying much ) is a bit part by steven seagal , playing himself . 
between executive decision and this , all of seagal's best roles have been cameos . 
maybe he should consider a change of work : steven seagal , the character actor ! 
gheorghe muresan isn't a natural actor at all , and his thick cotton-mouthed accent certainly doesn't help . 
in fact the only thing he adds to the role is his immense stature . 
originally , the concept was designed several years ago for andre the giant . 
andre also had a hefty accent , but he displayed a knack for comedy in the princess bride . . . something 
muresan should have studied for some pointers . 
why does billy crystal continually get caught in these pathetic comedies ? 
he's proven that he can be much funnier than these formulaic films allow him to be , and yet , like a glutton for punishment , he keeps coming back . 
that doesn't mean we have to .