“So you got a job, where you play with all these toys?”
– Billy
SYNOPSIS: After wishing to be made big, a teenage boy wakes the next morning to find himself mysteriously in the body of an adult. – via IMDB
You know what… this one was going so well until it wasn’t. And when it wasn’t going well, my stomach was churning. Maybe let me back up and get this going properly so we are all on the same page.
In the beginning, I was having a good time. The movie was sweet and silly and so totally eighties, and Tom Ha
nks was totally just owning it. Preposterous movie, but cute. But then it went icky – quickly. Despite the fact that this 12 year old is now in an adult body, it does not make him an adult, so for the writers to have to engage in a sexual relationship with a coworker was just too much for me. I just went ICK and the movie never recovered from that.
Besides that whole section of nasty, the second half did suffer from being too adult-y and all that. Yeah, I get why, and yeah, I get the message and all that, and it is necessary for the story arc to start somewhere, progress, and then complete, but after Josh started kicking it with Susan, everything fell apart. I got the whole concept of how much life changes when you have to grow up, how the simplicity is lost, I didn’t mind the message, but I was having severe difficulties with the relationship component – even with his body, he is still a child, and my skin crawled.
In the first half there were a lot of fun things – it was funny to see a child find himself in an adult body and try to pick up a life and make things work, all the while having a total ball with all that cash and freedom. Tom Hanks is also excellent here, to be sure, and I thought he handled the role really well. He came across and genuine and adorable.
Anyway, I can’t really say Big was much of a winner. It started out alright and then it just went super dodgy, and it ruined the experience for me. I will certainly not be rushing out to watch this again. Once was enough.
The Sporadic Chronicles 
Yeah, even when I was young and this was always on TV, something about it didn’t sit right with me. I don’t have the innocent fondness that most others of my generation have for it.
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Glad to see I am not alone. So many rave reviews, so much love for it, but it just wasn’t all that. Better movies out there to be fond of!
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That sounds extremely strange to me.
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It is
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I definitely had a moment in NYC where I got to dance on the toy store piano. Such an iconic scene.
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That’s so cool! It is a fun scene to be sure.
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I think most people’s fave scenes are from the first part. The bit where he gets his frst paycheck and the different reactions between him and the coworker crack me up. The piano bit of course too. And the marketing report line too. Yeah the romance thing was weird. What did you think of 13 going on 30?
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Yeah, the first part has really great, amusing scenes that were well worth it. It was just too odd. I can’t recall if I ever actually watched it, but I doubt I did. I only know that Jennifer Garner is in it. Worth watching? Does it also have a dodgy romance?
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More clunky. And the film lacks the magic charm of Big.
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