बिग

Tom Hanks earned his first Oscar nomination in the late 1980s with the Penny Marshall comedy/fantasy "Big." I saw it for the first time when I was about 9, and have loved it ever since. I like how it is aimed at both the kid and adult in all of us!

Young Josh Baskin (David Moscow) goes with his family to a carnival one evening, and sees the girl of his dreams. When he finally works up the nerve to talk to her, her date appears with her. Then, he does not meet the height requirement for the roller coaster ride he wants to go on. So, off he goes to a deserted part of the carnival to the "Zoltar" machine, a devil's head encased in glass, to "make his wish." He wishes he "were big." Suffice it to say, Josh wakes up the next morning to discover he is an adult (Tom Hanks). Mom (Mercedes Ruehl) thinks he kidnapped her son, and calls the police. Josh eventually convinces best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) that he (Josh) is his true 13-year-old self trapped in a man's body. They take off to New York, where Josh manages to get a job as a product tester for a large toy company. He befriends the boss (Robert Loggia), who likes Josh's understanding of the toys kids really like. However, Josh finds himself at odds with Paul (John Heard), vice president of marketing, who perceives Josh's simplistic views as an invasion of Paul's more experienced, competitive ways. Never fear, as successful co-worker Susan Lawerence (Elizabeth Perkins) finds comfort in Josh's views and company, and falls in love with him. But the more Josh experiences the privileges and responsibilities of adulthood, the more he longs for his youth again. Should he stay with Susan or find the Zoltar machine and wish to be a kid again?

An impressive film about growing up and making wishes. When you're a kid, you can't wait to grow up. But when you're an adult, you have to make sacrifices and accept responsibility, ideal and not-so-ideal. Also, be careful what you wish for, as you might get it! A Broadway musical version of "Big" opened in the mid-1990s. The piano dancing sequence is its trademark. I had the privilege to play the role of Paul (the John Heard character) in a summer musical production, and loved it! I highly recommend both the film and the musical!

Saw this movie again recently and found that it stands up well to repeat viewings. Tom Hanks meets a difficult challenge here - to convincingly show us how a twelve-year old boy would act if he were trapped in an adult's body and had to "pass" in a grownup world. He meets the challenge in spades, aided by a script that is by turns witty, clever, insightful, and touching, and by Penny Marshall's able direction. Much is added by Robert Loggia's sympathetic portrayal of Tom/Josh's boss, and by Jared Rushton as his friend Billy. The movie is much more than an exercise in slapstick or farce: it is really a disquisition on the wonder of childhood. In the end it is quite touching, if not moving, reminding us all of the innocence of youth and the aching sadness of recalling its loss. Too early to tell, but the film might very well be destined to become a classic.

What we're talking about is a wonderful fantasy comedy about the child, who sleeps in everyone's soul and waits to get free. Superbly written scenes follow each other, not to mention Tom Hanks' performance, which should have been awarded. He seems to me the only contemporary actor, who was able to play the role of a 13-year-old teenager, who becomes an adult from one day to another. Elizabeth Perkins and especially John Heard form a strong supporting cast and this time they really support Hanks' work. This film bothers to talk about more important things, like the loss of innocence, friendship and the first love, not just tells a story about a boy in the big city. This was Hanks' star-making role after a string of stupid comedies in the middle 80s and he deservedly became one of the biggest stars of the 90s. And don't forget, this was his first film in his "outsider" series: he made his biggest successes playing somehow outsider figures: Sleepless in Seattle, Philadelphia, Forrest Gump or the Cast Away. Go and see it, you won't be disappointed even if you think you've lost the child inside you...with the help of this film you will find it. Believe me.

This movie is great. I mean, really. That's what every boy dreams of - becoming an adult overnight! It's absolutely gorgeous to see Tom Hanks' performance - that's real acting, it requires a lot to play this part as genuinely and cordial as he did. The message is so clear and so honest. The nostalgic edge is of such profound significance to the story. It's about the differences between being a kid and being an adult. It's about two very different perceptions of the same world that surrounds us. It's just us and how we make the best out of every day of our lives, and all it needs is to see the world through the eyes of a kid. A kid perceives all the things differently, with much more native and modest simplicity - the keystone to imagination and magic, the keystone to cherish the daily miracles in our lives. This movie has a deep and very pervasive message. It has so much charm and vitality mingled with nostalgia and witchcraft. One of those movies I enjoyed watching when I was a kid. Recommended.

I saw this film again yesterday for what must now be the tenth or so time and it's a film that makes me stop whatever I'm doing and immerse myself in the unfolding story. Never mind the fact that I am by now familiar with the premise, which incidentally far exceeds similar ones of the genre released at this time - Vice Versa and 18 Again (the latter being truly dire).

I think this is one of Hanks' finest hours and see it as the pinnacle of his early pre-90's career. His later performance in Philadelphia would eclipse this role, although this was obviously more serious in its message.

It takes real talent to act the young boy in the body of a thirty something and Hanks' copes admirably, from the comical leaping around the bedroom when he is trying to put on the jeans of the child on discovering his transformation to the child-like reaction displayed on Perkins' advances toward him. He captures the essence of youthful innocence both in the company of his younger peers and older 'work' colleagues.

Elizabeth Perkins complements the performance of Hanks' and it seems a shame that on searching the database that her career perhaps hasn't mirrored the success of Hanks' since making 'Big'.

I don't know why, but I always shed a tear at the end of the film. Perhaps it is the longing in all of us to want to return to the days of our youth and that we cannot turn back the clock as one can in the imaginary world of film.

As I grow older, and watch my children grow-up it makes me realise that time is a precious commodity and that life is a gift that should be cherished and nurtured carefully. This film somehow reinforces these feelings.