Film #22: Big
Reviewed June 23, 2012
Today we are back(after a long hiatus of “weeks that were” and interviews) to review the 1988 box office blockbuster Big. The film was directed by Penny Marshall and written by Gary Ross (he who has written a ton of my favorite films; Pleasantville, Dave, The Hunger Games, Trial and Error, etc). It stars Tom Hanks, Robert Loggia, Jared Rushton(in the “what happened to that guy” category), Friend of the 88 project, Elizabeth Perkins(see everything she is in!), John Heard, and Mercedes Ruehl.
Historical Background
This movie could be seen as a coming of age tale for those of us at the tail end of Generation X who were actually coming of age. Seeing this movie always reminds me of who I was in 1988. Like Josh, I was on the verge of adolescence; a short,skinny 11 year old kid with thick glasses, big ears and an over-sized mouth (lips that would garner me with several cruel nicknames throughout my teens) I was the smallest kid in the neighborhood that I grew up in.That won me the acclaim of being used by the bigger kids as an object of ridicule. Whether they were putting a sprinkler down the back of my pants and making me sit on it, or tying me up to trees to barrage me with water balloons, I was the “proverbial punching bag”. I was un-athletic and clumsy, instead getting involved in theater and choir. I would pass on a game of street football to read Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera (who wouldn’t tease an 11 year old in a “French literature” phase?) When everyone else had girlfriends and playground marriages, I was the single-pretend minister. I tried to compensate for my lack of ” boyishness” with a smart mouth and a false swagger(hmmm..perhaps this was part of the reason for the attacks from the kids in the neighborhood…but who want to blame themselves?:) ). Deep down all I wanted to do was live in two worlds too; act and sing, read books, play with my toys, and be a grown up/move out of town/show them what I could be.
My brother and I went to see this movie in Joplin, Missouri while we visiting our cousins in the summer of ’88. It would be a week we still refer to as the “week of movies”. There was not a day that went by on that trip where him and I didn’t beg our aunt to drive us to the movies, mostly to avoid the awkwardness of being on a trip for the first time without our parents, but also because, if my brother and I have one thing in a common over a lifetime of differences, it is our love of movies. Movies are the glue that hold my memories of him and I together. Whether, we were sneaking intoSpaceballs when we told our parents we were seeing Benji the Hunted, sitting at the old Cole Square Theaters with mom’s homemade snack mix (she hated the price of movie popcorn even then) watching Charlotte’s Web or Song of the South, or sitting around the basement listening to our records of Peter Pan (which skipped at he point where Captain Hook says “Soon the tide will be moving in” so it only said it over and over…until my brother turned it into a clock) or Fox and the Hound,my brother and I have always been able to break the silence with movies. Now, when we get together, we don’t hesitate to round up our kids and take them to the movies too, so they can experience the power of a shared movie. In fact, just the other day after seeing the hilarious Madagascar 3, he was the first one I texted to talk about it. We were two different people. He was quiet and enjoyed design, Public Enemy, and football. I was outspokenly loud, listened to Sinatra and Buddy Holly, and liked performing. However, thanks to our mom’s collection of 1000′s of films, cable, and my parents unending belief that we should go see movies as a family, our passion for film bonds us for life.
That week in 1988 we saw Funny Farm, Big Business, Short Circuit 2, Crocodile Dundee 2, and Big. It is a moment in time that will always be the grain of sand that will never wash away. I guess, more than anything, that is what Big means to me. It is a film that captures a boy’s last moments of innocence before he is rushed into the world of adulthood. It is a film that warns us to let our children stay children as long as we can, in their world of bike riding, sleepovers with walkie talkies, video games, and their sense of immortality. How can you watch this movie and not think back to sleepovers? I rode my bike to work the other day and faced the questioning looks of my students. “Adults are supposed to drive cars”. I tell you though, the minute my bike coasted down a huge hill, wind in my face, I was 10 again. I could feel something in me that I lost in the hustle and bustle of bills,college, parenthood, going to work, forming adult relationships.It was summer again, and I was coasting down “dead man’s hill” by the junior high. I could almost hear my friends calling me to ride over to Smitty’s and get candy (ahh to have that metabolism). It was the last days before it was still ok to be immature, before some of us started to drift apart into different interests, girls, new friends, and different lives. I can’t recall a time in junior high or high school when I ever stepped into my friend down the street’s house. Sad, because I had been there almost every day of my life from six to twelve. We grew apart, we all became different when we got our wish to be big. I miss them.
The Plot
The film takes us into the world of 12 year old Josh Baskin(David Moscow). It is a world dominated by baseball, computer games (that darn ice wizard), his friend Billy, family, and the struggles of a life on the verge of adolescence. Josh heads to an amusement park with his family and, in front of the girl that he likes, is told he is too short to ride the carnival ride (He would have the same “punched in the gut” look that I recently saw on the face of my 6 year old, when he was told he could not ride the bumper cars with me at Kings Island…it crumples a kid). Josh wanders around until he finds a Zoltar machine and wishes he was a grown up. The next morning, Josh(now Tom Hanks) wakes to find out that his wish has come true. Hilarious prat falls and physical comedy ensue, as Josh tries to get dressed and get out of the house without being seen. He makes it out of the house, after being seen by his mom (Ruehl) who now thinks Josh has been kidnapped, and makes his way to the carnival to find Zoltar. However, the carnival has moved on.
He rushes to the school to find Billy. Once he convinces Billy who he really is, they travel to New York City to track down the Zoltar machine, where he is told that the information will be sent to him in more than a month. While he waits for the information, he moves into a low rent hotel (full of the sounds that a stereotypical night in New York’s less than appealing neighborhoods would provide; prostitutes, gun shots, shouting) and cries himself to sleep. The next day Billy and him pound the pavement of the city to look for a job. (famous Tom Hanks milkshake cherry scene inserted here). He settles on becoming a computer analyst for MacMillan toys because he is 12 and a boy, therefore he loves computers and toys. The interview is classic! “Did you pledge?” “Everyday”. Plus, now he gets the bonus of sitting in a cubicle next to Jon Lovitz! (connected to 88 project for his work as Governor Dukakis..see interview)It is during the interview we also get to meet the “fast talking career gal” (sorry, it is my policy to add lines from “The Hudsucker Proxy” whenever relevant) Susan, in a well written Dennis Miller style rant . “She spent the last three months writing down her married name. “Mrs. Judy Hicks”, “Mrs. Donald Hicks”; “Mrs. Judy Mitchellson Hicks”, sometimes with a hyphen, sometimes without a hyphen. Sometimes, she spells the hyphen. “
While he waits for the Zoltar information, he makes contact with his mother, letting her believe that he has kidnapped her son and not to worry. His first pay day, brings out the Billy-Josh binge party,complete with silly spray. His life makes a turn though when he is out shopping at FAO Schwarz and runs into his boss (Loggia) who is amused with the way that Josh plays with all of the toys. After a rousing duet on the giant floor piano, MacMillan promotes Josh to the corporate offices. This move provokes the wrath of Paul (John Heard) who clearly does not have a sense of the wonderment Josh does about toys and the world around him. It likewise provokes the curiousity of Susan (Paul’s girlfriend?) about this strange man child who sits in meetings and plays with the toys, encouraging the board to build toys that kids will find to be fun. “You know, for kids” (see…I told you). At a company party, where Josh shows up in a dashing 1970′s/80′s prom tuxedo, Susan’s curiousity takes a new direction when she witnesses the un yuppie way that he polishes off the buffet. They end up leaving together and head to Josh’s new studio apartment (purchased with an ever bigger paycheck, and includes a pinball machine, a Pepsi Machine, a trampoline, and more objects that you know a 12 year old boy would buy if he made a 6 figure salary. Heck, I am 35 and I would buy them if I had a six figure salary…after I asked my wife of course.:) ). At his apartment Susan finds the way back to her own inner childhood, remembering what it is like to be free and not get sucked into the pressures of an adult relationship, when boy-girl relationships were not about sex, but swinging from the monkey bars and blushing over holding hands. Heck, when I was in 2nd grade a girl gave me pencil shavings and told me that I was to never give them away, because that would mean I didn’t love her anymore. Of course, they went in the trash as soon as I found out she gave out pencil shavings to another boy named Matt. Young Love is so cruel.
Anyway, Josh begins to change those around him those with his magical thinking and he begins to become very comfortable in his adult world. Susan and Josh grow closer and eventually begin to develop a series of interactive comic books. The only person who does not want this change is Paul ,who challenges Josh to a bravado proving game of handball/racquetball/squash (never quote sure which is which..and good luck explaining it to me…this is why I review movies and not sports). After getting punched in the face by Paul, Josh seeks the comfort of Susan who changes Josh’s youthful world forever. Like Samson losing his hair, Josh’s “adult night” (after a date at the carnival where he walks by Zoltar), takes away his wonderment. His office changes, he starts drinking coffee and wearing a tie, his demeanor is now that of Joe Fox from “You’ve Got Mail”, and he avoids phone calls from Billy. Finally, after a confrontation with Billy who now has the Zoltar listings, Josh begins soul searching, playing his video game, walking around his neighborhood. Josh reveals to Susan who he really is. She thinks he is scared of commitment and chases him out.. The next day, at the big product pitch, Josh walks out to find Zoltar. Susan follows him and runs into Billy, telling him that she is “his girlfriend”. She finds Josh at the Zoltar machine. Has he made the wish, or hasn’t he? Well, as always my fellow movie goers, go and rent it…or buy it!
THE REVIEW
Ok, I am going to come right out and say it…I love this movie! I cherish every line of dialog in this film, every character, every plot twist, every piece of scenery, every clever plot device. If you don’t love Big, you may want to get an evaluation from your doctor, because you may be missing a heart. This movie says so much about the times we were living in and about the desire in most of us to live in two worlds. When we are young, we want to be old. When we are old, we want to be young. The years of our life are so fast, and trying to hold onto them is like trying to make a permanent sand castle. We want so desperately to hold onto any grain of sand, to have some reminder of what we were, or where we were heading that we end up weighing our successes against our regrets. It is probably why so many popular songs are about reminiscing,or why Toy Story 3 made even the hardest heart weep at the loss of their childhood. This movie is one of those grains of sand for me.
Big represents everything that this blog project is about. 1988 is a time when the last pages of the Cold War were being written around us, when terrorism would hit home over Scotland, when my childhood was coming to an end. America would be different after 1988. 1989 would bring on a new world, full of new fears, new ambitions, a technology age, summer blockbusters, MTV would be on the verge of limiting its play of music.Old heroes would die, and a deep cynical irony would invade our culture. For 50 years we wished on the Zoltar machine to grow up as a world, we got our wish and without came higher heights, but also terrifying realities. This project can allow us to go back…if only for a blog reading, to the world when it was slower, and the fears were easier to identify. Perhaps Gary Ross, was trying to let us know that the post Reagan future was about to be very different, and we would be wise to take time to say goodbye to the past.
Big was one of several body switching films that came out that year(which means it has several prerequisite body switching film moments…like having to check out your new…um…body parts) but I believe it carries the most profound message out of all of them. Of course, none of this could have been possible if it had been for the stellar cast work of Tom Hanks (who would also see his life and career change after 1988), Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Robert Loggia and the others. Each actor existed in their roles so perfectly, that you barely needed dialog to see Perkin’s Susan melt away from her hard shelled jaded demeanor into her youthful self. You can see the weight lift off her shoulders in the trampoline scene. She is enchanting and truly beats as the heart of this picture. In fact, if you look at the picture from a different angle, it could be about the redemption of Susan. Hanks is forever youthful in his work. In fact, I am not sure that he did not wish on a Zoltar machine and he is still just a kid playing in man roles. You can see this at the gleam in his eye when he talks about space exploration. He bounds through his films with the energy and charisma of a much younger actor. This is why I have always admired Mr Hanks…he never phones it in. (I am a huge fan of his depth in Joe vs the Volcano).Heard does “smarmy and smug” as well as he did “put upon and heartbroken” that year in Beaches. Of course the question must ask is, what happened to Jared Rushton? That kid was in a ton of movies in the late 80′s…then….poof. I hope he returns to film, he had such a natural way with his characters.
Credit has also got to go to Penny Marshall. With this film, she became the first woman to direct a picture that made over $100 million. There are so many great movie moments in this film, the cherry, the silly string, the eating of the buffet (from cavier to “tiny corn”), even the falling leaves.This is a beautifully written and directed movie. Plus, the David Pomeranz, John Denver/Muppets melody “It’s in every one of us” plays in the background. I loved that song on 8 track.
Ahhh to be a child again. However, just like Susan makes known in the film…we have already lived that, and although it would be nice to go back, we also have to live in the now. I have grown beyond 1988, built a successful teaching career, seen the world, am helping to raise 3 wonderful human beings with my amazing wife. But, a film like Big will always be a part of that skinny little kid from Wyoming who still lives inside. Perhaps that is the message of David Moscow’s slow shuffle up the street in man sized shoes. It is a film with heart, with great laughs, great truths, a glimpse into a time and soul of American life, and a time and soul of a cast of actors whose careers and lifestyles would never be the same. You don’t need a Zoltar machine in order to glimpse your past, just put in Big tonight and let the soundtrack and the laughter take you back there.
10 out of 10
Siskel and Ebert episode that reviewed Big
Historical Background
This movie could be seen as a coming of age tale for those of us at the tail end of Generation X who were actually coming of age. Seeing this movie always reminds me of who I was in 1988. Like Josh, I was on the verge of adolescence; a short,skinny 11 year old kid with thick glasses, big ears and an over-sized mouth (lips that would garner me with several cruel nicknames throughout my teens) I was the smallest kid in the neighborhood that I grew up in.That won me the acclaim of being used by the bigger kids as an object of ridicule. Whether they were putting a sprinkler down the back of my pants and making me sit on it, or tying me up to trees to barrage me with water balloons, I was the “proverbial punching bag”. I was un-athletic and clumsy, instead getting involved in theater and choir. I would pass on a game of street football to read Les Miserables or Phantom of the Opera (who wouldn’t tease an 11 year old in a “French literature” phase?) When everyone else had girlfriends and playground marriages, I was the single-pretend minister. I tried to compensate for my lack of ” boyishness” with a smart mouth and a false swagger(hmmm..perhaps this was part of the reason for the attacks from the kids in the neighborhood…but who want to blame themselves?:) ). Deep down all I wanted to do was live in two worlds too; act and sing, read books, play with my toys, and be a grown up/move out of town/show them what I could be.
My brother and I went to see this movie in Joplin, Missouri while we visiting our cousins in the summer of ’88. It would be a week we still refer to as the “week of movies”. There was not a day that went by on that trip where him and I didn’t beg our aunt to drive us to the movies, mostly to avoid the awkwardness of being on a trip for the first time without our parents, but also because, if my brother and I have one thing in a common over a lifetime of differences, it is our love of movies. Movies are the glue that hold my memories of him and I together. Whether, we were sneaking intoSpaceballs when we told our parents we were seeing Benji the Hunted, sitting at the old Cole Square Theaters with mom’s homemade snack mix (she hated the price of movie popcorn even then) watching Charlotte’s Web or Song of the South, or sitting around the basement listening to our records of Peter Pan (which skipped at he point where Captain Hook says “Soon the tide will be moving in” so it only said it over and over…until my brother turned it into a clock) or Fox and the Hound,my brother and I have always been able to break the silence with movies. Now, when we get together, we don’t hesitate to round up our kids and take them to the movies too, so they can experience the power of a shared movie. In fact, just the other day after seeing the hilarious Madagascar 3, he was the first one I texted to talk about it. We were two different people. He was quiet and enjoyed design, Public Enemy, and football. I was outspokenly loud, listened to Sinatra and Buddy Holly, and liked performing. However, thanks to our mom’s collection of 1000′s of films, cable, and my parents unending belief that we should go see movies as a family, our passion for film bonds us for life.
That week in 1988 we saw Funny Farm, Big Business, Short Circuit 2, Crocodile Dundee 2, and Big. It is a moment in time that will always be the grain of sand that will never wash away. I guess, more than anything, that is what Big means to me. It is a film that captures a boy’s last moments of innocence before he is rushed into the world of adulthood. It is a film that warns us to let our children stay children as long as we can, in their world of bike riding, sleepovers with walkie talkies, video games, and their sense of immortality. How can you watch this movie and not think back to sleepovers? I rode my bike to work the other day and faced the questioning looks of my students. “Adults are supposed to drive cars”. I tell you though, the minute my bike coasted down a huge hill, wind in my face, I was 10 again. I could feel something in me that I lost in the hustle and bustle of bills,college, parenthood, going to work, forming adult relationships.It was summer again, and I was coasting down “dead man’s hill” by the junior high. I could almost hear my friends calling me to ride over to Smitty’s and get candy (ahh to have that metabolism). It was the last days before it was still ok to be immature, before some of us started to drift apart into different interests, girls, new friends, and different lives. I can’t recall a time in junior high or high school when I ever stepped into my friend down the street’s house. Sad, because I had been there almost every day of my life from six to twelve. We grew apart, we all became different when we got our wish to be big. I miss them.
The Plot
The film takes us into the world of 12 year old Josh Baskin(David Moscow). It is a world dominated by baseball, computer games (that darn ice wizard), his friend Billy, family, and the struggles of a life on the verge of adolescence. Josh heads to an amusement park with his family and, in front of the girl that he likes, is told he is too short to ride the carnival ride (He would have the same “punched in the gut” look that I recently saw on the face of my 6 year old, when he was told he could not ride the bumper cars with me at Kings Island…it crumples a kid). Josh wanders around until he finds a Zoltar machine and wishes he was a grown up. The next morning, Josh(now Tom Hanks) wakes to find out that his wish has come true. Hilarious prat falls and physical comedy ensue, as Josh tries to get dressed and get out of the house without being seen. He makes it out of the house, after being seen by his mom (Ruehl) who now thinks Josh has been kidnapped, and makes his way to the carnival to find Zoltar. However, the carnival has moved on.
He rushes to the school to find Billy. Once he convinces Billy who he really is, they travel to New York City to track down the Zoltar machine, where he is told that the information will be sent to him in more than a month. While he waits for the information, he moves into a low rent hotel (full of the sounds that a stereotypical night in New York’s less than appealing neighborhoods would provide; prostitutes, gun shots, shouting) and cries himself to sleep. The next day Billy and him pound the pavement of the city to look for a job. (famous Tom Hanks milkshake cherry scene inserted here). He settles on becoming a computer analyst for MacMillan toys because he is 12 and a boy, therefore he loves computers and toys. The interview is classic! “Did you pledge?” “Everyday”. Plus, now he gets the bonus of sitting in a cubicle next to Jon Lovitz! (connected to 88 project for his work as Governor Dukakis..see interview)It is during the interview we also get to meet the “fast talking career gal” (sorry, it is my policy to add lines from “The Hudsucker Proxy” whenever relevant) Susan, in a well written Dennis Miller style rant . “She spent the last three months writing down her married name. “Mrs. Judy Hicks”, “Mrs. Donald Hicks”; “Mrs. Judy Mitchellson Hicks”, sometimes with a hyphen, sometimes without a hyphen. Sometimes, she spells the hyphen. “
While he waits for the Zoltar information, he makes contact with his mother, letting her believe that he has kidnapped her son and not to worry. His first pay day, brings out the Billy-Josh binge party,complete with silly spray. His life makes a turn though when he is out shopping at FAO Schwarz and runs into his boss (Loggia) who is amused with the way that Josh plays with all of the toys. After a rousing duet on the giant floor piano, MacMillan promotes Josh to the corporate offices. This move provokes the wrath of Paul (John Heard) who clearly does not have a sense of the wonderment Josh does about toys and the world around him. It likewise provokes the curiousity of Susan (Paul’s girlfriend?) about this strange man child who sits in meetings and plays with the toys, encouraging the board to build toys that kids will find to be fun. “You know, for kids” (see…I told you). At a company party, where Josh shows up in a dashing 1970′s/80′s prom tuxedo, Susan’s curiousity takes a new direction when she witnesses the un yuppie way that he polishes off the buffet. They end up leaving together and head to Josh’s new studio apartment (purchased with an ever bigger paycheck, and includes a pinball machine, a Pepsi Machine, a trampoline, and more objects that you know a 12 year old boy would buy if he made a 6 figure salary. Heck, I am 35 and I would buy them if I had a six figure salary…after I asked my wife of course.:) ). At his apartment Susan finds the way back to her own inner childhood, remembering what it is like to be free and not get sucked into the pressures of an adult relationship, when boy-girl relationships were not about sex, but swinging from the monkey bars and blushing over holding hands. Heck, when I was in 2nd grade a girl gave me pencil shavings and told me that I was to never give them away, because that would mean I didn’t love her anymore. Of course, they went in the trash as soon as I found out she gave out pencil shavings to another boy named Matt. Young Love is so cruel.
Anyway, Josh begins to change those around him those with his magical thinking and he begins to become very comfortable in his adult world. Susan and Josh grow closer and eventually begin to develop a series of interactive comic books. The only person who does not want this change is Paul ,who challenges Josh to a bravado proving game of handball/racquetball/squash (never quote sure which is which..and good luck explaining it to me…this is why I review movies and not sports). After getting punched in the face by Paul, Josh seeks the comfort of Susan who changes Josh’s youthful world forever. Like Samson losing his hair, Josh’s “adult night” (after a date at the carnival where he walks by Zoltar), takes away his wonderment. His office changes, he starts drinking coffee and wearing a tie, his demeanor is now that of Joe Fox from “You’ve Got Mail”, and he avoids phone calls from Billy. Finally, after a confrontation with Billy who now has the Zoltar listings, Josh begins soul searching, playing his video game, walking around his neighborhood. Josh reveals to Susan who he really is. She thinks he is scared of commitment and chases him out.. The next day, at the big product pitch, Josh walks out to find Zoltar. Susan follows him and runs into Billy, telling him that she is “his girlfriend”. She finds Josh at the Zoltar machine. Has he made the wish, or hasn’t he? Well, as always my fellow movie goers, go and rent it…or buy it!
THE REVIEW
Ok, I am going to come right out and say it…I love this movie! I cherish every line of dialog in this film, every character, every plot twist, every piece of scenery, every clever plot device. If you don’t love Big, you may want to get an evaluation from your doctor, because you may be missing a heart. This movie says so much about the times we were living in and about the desire in most of us to live in two worlds. When we are young, we want to be old. When we are old, we want to be young. The years of our life are so fast, and trying to hold onto them is like trying to make a permanent sand castle. We want so desperately to hold onto any grain of sand, to have some reminder of what we were, or where we were heading that we end up weighing our successes against our regrets. It is probably why so many popular songs are about reminiscing,or why Toy Story 3 made even the hardest heart weep at the loss of their childhood. This movie is one of those grains of sand for me.
Big represents everything that this blog project is about. 1988 is a time when the last pages of the Cold War were being written around us, when terrorism would hit home over Scotland, when my childhood was coming to an end. America would be different after 1988. 1989 would bring on a new world, full of new fears, new ambitions, a technology age, summer blockbusters, MTV would be on the verge of limiting its play of music.Old heroes would die, and a deep cynical irony would invade our culture. For 50 years we wished on the Zoltar machine to grow up as a world, we got our wish and without came higher heights, but also terrifying realities. This project can allow us to go back…if only for a blog reading, to the world when it was slower, and the fears were easier to identify. Perhaps Gary Ross, was trying to let us know that the post Reagan future was about to be very different, and we would be wise to take time to say goodbye to the past.
Big was one of several body switching films that came out that year(which means it has several prerequisite body switching film moments…like having to check out your new…um…body parts) but I believe it carries the most profound message out of all of them. Of course, none of this could have been possible if it had been for the stellar cast work of Tom Hanks (who would also see his life and career change after 1988), Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Robert Loggia and the others. Each actor existed in their roles so perfectly, that you barely needed dialog to see Perkin’s Susan melt away from her hard shelled jaded demeanor into her youthful self. You can see the weight lift off her shoulders in the trampoline scene. She is enchanting and truly beats as the heart of this picture. In fact, if you look at the picture from a different angle, it could be about the redemption of Susan. Hanks is forever youthful in his work. In fact, I am not sure that he did not wish on a Zoltar machine and he is still just a kid playing in man roles. You can see this at the gleam in his eye when he talks about space exploration. He bounds through his films with the energy and charisma of a much younger actor. This is why I have always admired Mr Hanks…he never phones it in. (I am a huge fan of his depth in Joe vs the Volcano).Heard does “smarmy and smug” as well as he did “put upon and heartbroken” that year in Beaches. Of course the question must ask is, what happened to Jared Rushton? That kid was in a ton of movies in the late 80′s…then….poof. I hope he returns to film, he had such a natural way with his characters.
Credit has also got to go to Penny Marshall. With this film, she became the first woman to direct a picture that made over $100 million. There are so many great movie moments in this film, the cherry, the silly string, the eating of the buffet (from cavier to “tiny corn”), even the falling leaves.This is a beautifully written and directed movie. Plus, the David Pomeranz, John Denver/Muppets melody “It’s in every one of us” plays in the background. I loved that song on 8 track.
Ahhh to be a child again. However, just like Susan makes known in the film…we have already lived that, and although it would be nice to go back, we also have to live in the now. I have grown beyond 1988, built a successful teaching career, seen the world, am helping to raise 3 wonderful human beings with my amazing wife. But, a film like Big will always be a part of that skinny little kid from Wyoming who still lives inside. Perhaps that is the message of David Moscow’s slow shuffle up the street in man sized shoes. It is a film with heart, with great laughs, great truths, a glimpse into a time and soul of American life, and a time and soul of a cast of actors whose careers and lifestyles would never be the same. You don’t need a Zoltar machine in order to glimpse your past, just put in Big tonight and let the soundtrack and the laughter take you back there.
10 out of 10
Siskel and Ebert episode that reviewed Big