Last week’s Disc Dive was a first-time watch. This week I’m going with a personal favorite, Big.
Title: Big
Director: Penny Marshall
Released: June 3, 1988 (Theatrical – Romania and United States)
Runtime: 1 hour 44 minutes
Disc Format: Blu-ray
Josh Baskin (David Moscow) and his best friend Billy (Jared Rushton) are inseparable. They live next door to each other, hang out at and after school, and even have walkie-talkies so that they can speak to each other when they’re apart. Young enough to be carefree but, in Josh’s case, old enough to have an interest in girls.
While at the carnival with his family, Josh sees his crush, Cynthia, standing in line for a ride. He seizes the opportunity, tells his parents that he’ll ride this one solo, and rushes over to the line. As they get closer to the front of the line, an older kid walks up to them. It’s fairly obvious that this kid and Cynthia are here together. If that wasn’t humiliating enough, when Josh is about to enter the ride, he’s told he can’t get on. Why? He’s too short.
Now drenched in embarrassment, Josh wanders around on his own. In doing so, he finds a fortune-telling machine called Zoltar. He puts in a coin, wishes that he were big, and out pops a card that says “Your Wish is Granted”. As he reads the card, he also notices that the machine was unplugged this entire time.
The next morning, Josh gets up and goes to the bathroom. He can’t believe what he sees in the mirror. Somehow, what is staring back at him is an adult version of Josh Baskin (Tom Hanks). The Zoltar machine actually worked! But good luck explaining that to his mom. She thinks this version of Josh kidnapped her son and chases him out of her house. Luckily, he’s able to find Billy at school and convince him that he is Josh Baskin, just an adult version of him.
His wish seems to have given him exactly what he wanted. But is there any coming back from it?
Big has been a favorite of mine since the first time I saw it. I’ve owned it on VHS, DVD, and now Blu-ray. Back in the pre-streaming days, anytime Big was on I stopped what I was doing to watch it. And to this day, I still think it would be cool to own a Zoltar machine.
You’d be hard pressed to find someone better to play the role of adult Josh Baskin than Tom Hanks. He’s able to play young and naive with such ease. Adult Josh never coming across as ignorant, instead he’s just genuinely unaware of how the real world works.
We see it on full-display during his first night in the city on his own. When he finally gets to his motel room, he’s absolutely terrified of every noise whether it’s coming from next door or down on the streets. And once he gets promoted at work, we really see the innocence shine through. He’s not excelling at his job because he’s the best at interpreting spreadsheets and marketing reports. No, he’s advancing because he’s bringing a kid’s instinct to the design of these toys.
There are tons of memorable moments in Big. The standout has to be Hanks and Robert Loggia on the piano mat inside FAO Schwarz. Seeing Josh’s finished apartment is another one for me. Full of arcade games, toys, a soda machine, trampoline, and bunkbeds to top it all off. Give a kid a black AMEX and an apartment they can make their own, this is exactly what you’d wind up with.
For as great as Hanks is in this role, I don’t think it would’ve worked as well as it does without Elizabeth Perkins as Susan. They have great on-screen chemistry together and Perkins really is the one bringing the heart to the film. Their scene in Josh’s apartment after the work party is one of my favorites. She can’t believe that he actually lives like this but also loves that he’s able to live like this and that he’s so in touch with his inner kid still. It is hard not to smile when he gets her to let loose and jump on the trampoline with him. And just when you think there might be something between them, you’re reminded Josh is still just a kid. He doesn’t join her on the bottom bunk, electing to jump onto the top bunk to sleep instead.
Penny Marshall, along with writers Anne Spielberg and Gary Ross, choosing to keep things light and fun is why Big works as well as it does. There’s no shoehorning of themes, nothing feels forced, and most of all it’s relatable.
When we’re younger, all we want is to be an adult. But once we’re adults, all we want is to be able to be a kid again.
Big gets it.