The basic premise: A 12 year old boy named Josh Baskin goes to a carnival with his family, but is soon embarrassed while trying to impress an older girl he has a crush on, when he is told he is too small to go on a ride. Josh makes a wish to the (now infamous) Zoltar, a carnival machine to be "big". Josh is startled that the machine was working, despite not being plugged in, however, he shrugs it off and heads home. The next morning he wakes up and is in the body of a 30 year old man (Hanks). His mom panics thinking a stranger broke in and Josh goes on the run to New York City. He gets an associate level job at a toy company, but quickly ascends the ranks when he meets the company's owner MacMillan (very well acted by Robert Loggia) out one weekend, and they discuss toys - which earns Josh an executive product development gig.
The rest of the movie is comical moments of Josh trying to navigate life with his kid mentality, but being in adult situations; having a job and going to meetings, going to a corporate party, and eventually getting involved in a sexual relationship with a co-worker named Susan (Perkins), although I must note the sex is implied only, we do not actually see anything on screen. Hanks played the naive suburbanite kid trapped in an adult body extremely well. In fact, I cannot name another actor from that time who could have pulled it off. Perkins plays a believable role as the corporate climber, and attractive, without being slutty, girlfriend. Marshall guides the scenes very much through the eyes of an adolescent, and it works well.
I was 14 years old when this movie came out, which is possibly what attached me too it then. The idea of a kid falling into a dream job at a toy company, then ending up with a great girlfriend seemed like a fun escapist fantasy at the time. I am not sure what it was about my recent viewing that was kind of a let down, but the fun "magic" was not there for me any more. Maybe it is some of the cynicism I have in life, or that the conclusion left me thinking "eh, whatever", but I just didn't like it as much as I used to.
I think I could not now in 2012 accept that Josh's parents were just left hanging (for however long he was gone), and there was seemingly no investigation into his disappearance. I have little doubt that Josh's friend Billy would have caved in under police questioning him, and revealed where Josh really was. Plus, I had a small problem that there was no trace on the Baskin's phone when Josh called that one evening. That just did not seem right. I think Josh's transition from the "kid" persona (the one with a trampoline in his apartment), to the "adult" persona, merely because he had sex with Susan was also shaky. Suddenly he is a well mannered socialite who goes out on the town with his yuppie girlfriend? Most movies have a level of fictional acceptance to overcome and Big is no different, the previous luster I held this film with, however, has worn off.
Big is still a good family film with some funny moments that I think many of us can relate from our adolescence - being excluded for being too young, too small, etc... The film also works in reverse to show us that "having that kid inside" as an adult is, in fact, desirable and fun.
Big is still a good family film with some funny moments that I think many of us can relate from our adolescence - being excluded for being too young, too small, etc... The film also works in reverse to show us that "having that kid inside" as an adult is, in fact, desirable and fun.
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