means "heroic"?

You see, most bowls players don’t roll cigarettes during games, or eat bags of chips on the green – and they certainly don’t write rude things about the Club Secretary on the back of score cards. As we here in Torbay know, he did all these things and more. It’s no small wonder that Mel Smith recognised in Griff Sanders and the Torbay Bowls scene the potential for an hysterically funny film. – and hopefully a box office hit, which will do Torbay no harm at all.
But there’s more to this than a good film with a load of laughs. This story of a talented and honest sportsman – and his clash with the usually sedate establishment of the world of lawn bowling – throws up a moral, which has a wider application.

What we see in this story is the genteel image of bowling turned upside down by a larger – than – life character for whom compromise is rarely a preferred option. No spin from Mr. Sanders, apart from on the Green, that is – with him, what you see is what you get.

What does "larger than life" mean here?