Marshall, Hanks, and his co-stars seldom put a foot wrong.
Big (1988)
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Reviews Counted:51
Fresh:49
Rotten:2
Average Rating:7.9/10
Runtime: 2 hrs
Genre: Comedies
Synopsis: A 13-year-old boy named Josh wants, more than anything else, to be "big". And when he makes a wish on a carnival wishing booth his dreams come true: he transposes into the body of a 35 year old man... A 13-year-old boy named Josh wants, more than anything else, to be "big". And when he makes a wish on a carnival wishing booth his dreams come true: he transposes into the body of a 35 year old man -- though his mind and spirit remain that of a child. Since he can't really go to school looking like an adult, and his mother doesn't know him in his new guise, he heads to New York with his pal Billy, where they proceed to goof off, play around, and act basically like the kids they are. But when Billy leaves, Josh is subjected to the encroaching needs and responsibilities of adulthood, and he quickly discovers both the pleasures and the problems of being grown-up. [More]
Starring: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, David Moscow, Robert Loggia
Starring: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, David Moscow, Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, Samantha Larkin, Mercedes Ruehl, Jon Lovitz, Josh Clark, Rockets Redglare, Jamie Tirelli, James Eckhouse, Tracy Reiner
Director: Penny Marshall
Director: Penny Marshall
Screenwriter: Gary Ross, Anne Spielberg
Producer: James L. Brooks, Robert Greenhut, Juliet Taylor
Composer: Howard Shore
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Reviews for Big
Will appeal to children who don't want to grow up too fast and adults who yearn for the spontaneous play of childhood.
One of Hollywood's all-time most appealing magic realist fantasies. [Blu-ray]
This is mainstream Hollywood filmmaking at its best -- packed with intelligence, humour and pathos.
What's great about it is that it shows how wonderfully full of toys the world of adults can be. And though this may fall under the heading of tiny, perhaps even fatuous, revelations, it does send you out of the theater with a lighter step.
Prompts us to remember that the tendency to drift away from the hopes and fantasies of childhood is normal and happens to the best of us.
Kids will love the laugh-out-loud fantasy. Adults will laugh, too, as well as appreciate the sweetness that lies underneath.
For any other full-grown actors who try their hands at fidgeting, squirming, throwing water balloons and wolfing down food in a huge variety of comically disgusting ways, this really is the performance to beat.
It is...one of those films that simply cannot be touched, no matter how one pokes and prods at its lapses in logic.
The picture still stands proud as a comedy easy chair of sorts, but even more vividly as Tom Hanks's finest hour as an actor.
As far as the movie's message is considered -- if only grown-ups could be more like kids -- Jerry Lewis did an infinitely better job of plugging it in the 50s.
Hanks so convincingly played a grown-up with a 12-year-old mind that he transformed instantly in the public eye from a run-of-the-mill comedy star to a respected actor with limitless potential.
Once in a blue moon, there are moments of perfect casting that virtually ensure a movie is going to be a piece of class. And that's what you've got here.
As a crowd-pleasing comedy it works. But it really could have been so much more.
Latest News for Big
November 28, 2007:
Matthew Perry to Wake Up Looking Like Zac Efron
When you look at Zac Efron, do you see a younger version of Matthew Perry? More...
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