SummaryAt a carnival, young Josh Baskin wishes he was big only to awake the next morning and discover he is! With the help of his friend Billy, Josh lands a job at a toy company. But the more he experiences being an adult, the more Josh longs for the simple joys of childhood. [Twentieth Century Fox]
SummaryAt a carnival, young Josh Baskin wishes he was big only to awake the next morning and discover he is! With the help of his friend Billy, Josh lands a job at a toy company. But the more he experiences being an adult, the more Josh longs for the simple joys of childhood. [Twentieth Century Fox]
Sure, the premise is identical age-reversal comedies, but this one uses a much higher octane, animating a tired idea with a timeless script, and the result is pop humor at its most appealing - wit and charm spiced with a measured pinch of farce and just the right hint of melancholy. [3 Jun 1988, p.E1]
There are films made just to entertain, which are not made to be big, but end up being so dear to the public that they resist the passage of time and continue to win over fans. I think this film is one of those.
What is the child who has never felt like being an adult once and for all, in order to be able to do everything that is not left behind? Well, that is the basis of this film, where a boy asks a machine for a simple wish: to be big. The popular fair machine, very similar to one of those fair mystics or fortune tellers, grants him the wish and, in fact, the next day, he appears to be at least thirty years old and has to run away from home because his own mother he doesn't recognize him and calls the police.
Okay, I grant that the script is very childish and has lots of holes if we start thinking about it. One of the biggest, and most difficult to miss, is the strange way in which the young man, now unusually grown up, manages to manage his apparent disappearance with his own mother. It just doesn't make sense and it was something that could have been more explored by the script: uprooting, homesickness, family, having to move and being independent without being prepared for it. But the script didn't want to reach that depth and I understand the reasons: it made the movie joke, it gave it more drama and the film, after all, is a comedy. It's all right. It is quite good as it is!
Tom Hanks has, in this film, one of several comedies with which he started his career in cinema, after having made some very successful TV sitcoms of that decade, such as “Family Ties”. He is still quite raw as an actor, but here, in this film, we already have signs of his talent, his charisma, qualities that opened doors for him, after all. He takes the film well, carries it with him until the end and shines, making the audience laugh without losing quality in the most emotional moments of the plot. Beside him, we have a capable cast where we can mention Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia and also the young Jared Rushton. The role of villain, perhaps the least well thought out and most poorly conceived in the film, is up to John Heard.
In addition to a well thought out and developed cast, with creative moments of humor, and a good performance by Hanks and the cast that surrounds him, we can mention a very competent photograph, although within the standards of the time when the film was made, an elegant but discreet soundtrack and a simple and artifical direction work.
Made to entertain, to make you laugh, this family movie is quite fun and very suitable, even today, for a family evening. Personally, I think it is one of the happiest and best-made comedies of the 80s. So much so that, from time to time, it still takes place on the television grid of specialty channels and continues to win over fans, over thirty years after the debut. There is no better prize than this, I think.
I am glad to be able to say that all these clever and talented people have actually come up with the goods. The biggest goodie is Tom Hanks as the little boy after his wish has been granted. Much of the comedy in this movie is physical. Without forcing the matter Mr. Hanks has a startling ability to take on the mannerisms and facial expressions of an adolescent. [2 Jun 1988, p.1]
Big features believable young teen-age mannerisms from the two real boys in its cast, and this only makes Mr. Hanks's funny, flawless impression that much more adorable. This really is the performance to beat.
Big moves with polish and assurance. It's too soon to tell whether Marshall has anything of her own to say, but Big is proof that she can handle the Hollywood machine, and that is no small thing.
Once again, the overall premise is milked for some mild titillation involving the hero's sexual innocence, making one wonder if the genre's popularity might involve some deeply sublimated form of kiddie porn--arguably the distilled ideological essence of squeaky-clean Reaganism.
Big is a fantastic comedy with great dialogue,performances and is a lot of fun to watch the message of the film is also great telling us that growing up is tough so be young while you can.
one of my favorite movies!!
Tom Hanks shows his acting prowess, and get a deserved Oscar nomination, for his role in this entertaining tale of a boy who becomes a man overnight. Although now over twenty years old the film does still hold up today and the concept still hasn't been bettered.
Big was made in 1988 and is a comedy romance, fantasy type film starring Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Jared Rushton and Jon Lovitz.. Basically Tom Hanks starts off as a school kid in little league and hanging out with his schoolfriend Billy (Jared Rushton) then one night at a fairground accompanied by his parents he wonders off for a bit then makes a wish on a Zoltar machine which has a head on it with eyes that glow up and the mouth opens and the Zoltar machine isn't even plugged in when he uses it yet it works which is odd and weird. Anyway he makes a wish on the Zoltar machine to be big then later when all not pans out in the adult world for him he decides to reverse the wish on the Zoltar machine to be a child again yet all the time he experienced adulthood through his wish his poor mum was probably thinking her son was abducted or dead. John Heard is annoying in this film and so is Jared Rushton to a degree and it's full of toys, fun, bouncing on trampolines, funfairs, business deals and meetings, constant conversations, taxi rides, whatever but it's boring and not in the slightest bit interesting. Tom Hanks gives an excellent performance but the bore factor in the movie kills what life he brings to the film and Big feels overlong and tedious at times even though the romance and chemistry between Tom Hanks and Elizabeth Perkins is great. Not a good film.