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Big
Directed by Penny Marshall
Produced by James L. Brooks
Robert Greenhut
Written by Gary Ross
Anne Spielberg
Starring Tom Hanks
Elizabeth Perkins
Robert Loggia
John Heard
Music by Howard Shore
Cinematography Barry Sonnenfeld
Distributed by 20th Century Fox
Release date(s) June 3, 1988 (USA)
Running time 104 min.
Language English
Budget $18,000,000 (est.)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile
Big is a 1988 comedy film about a teenage boy who is aged to adulthood by a
magical fortune-telling machine. It stars Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins,
Robert Loggia, John Heard, Jared Rushton, David Moscow, Jon Lovitz and
Mercedes Ruehl. The movie was written by Gary Ross, with Justin Schindler,
and Anne Spielberg. Penny Marshall directed, replacing Steven Spielberg
whose sister was one of the writers.
Plot
After being humiliated while trying to impress an older girl at a carnival,
Josh Baskin (David Moscow) goes to a wish/fortune-telling machine, called
Zoltar Speaks, in the shape of a gypsy wizard and wishes that he were "big."
The next morning, he sees a face in the mirror he does not recognize:
overnight, he has become a fully-grown adult (Tom Hanks).
When his mother sees him, she drives what appears to be a menacing intruder
out of her house, then finding Josh gone, believes he has been kidnapped. In
desperation, Josh corners his 13-year-old best friend Billy Kopecki (Jared
Rushton), and convinces him of his true identity (by singing a secret song
only they know). With his help, Josh rents a cheap room in Manhattan, and
gets a lowly data-entry job at the MacMillan Toy Company.
In a memorable scene, he meets the company's owner, MacMillan (Robert
Loggia), checking out the products at the FAO Schwarz toy store, and
impresses him with his childlike enthusiasm. They end up playing a duet
together on a giant foot-operated electronic keyboard, performing Chopsticks
and Heart and Soul. This earns Josh a promotion to a dream job for a kid:
testing toys all day long and getting paid for it. With his insight into
what sells to children, he quickly rises up the corporate ranks.
He soon attracts the attention of the beautiful, ambitious Susan Lawrence
(Elizabeth Perkins), a fellow toy executive, and a romance begins to
develop, much to the annoyance of her current boyfriend, Paul (John Heard).
In time, Josh sees his friendship with Billy start to fade as his
relationship with Susan begins to grow, and he is faced with a choice:
return to his old life with his family and friends, or remain an adult with
Susan. Ultimately, he decides to return to his normal life and seeks out the
Zoltar machine, wishing himself back to childhood.
Susan catches up to Josh before he makes his wish. He tries to convince her
to join him, but she isn't willing to relive her adolescence again. They
part, with a hint that they may meet later, when he has grown up. The
original ending for the film included a scene in which Josh is in class, and
a "new girl in school" is brought into the classroom. Her resemblance to
Susan and a shot of Josh's reaction imply that this is Susan, having also
become young. The scene was cut after poor response in test screenings.
Acclaim
Big was received with almost unanimous critical acclaim, and is considered
by many critics the gold standard of movies in which a child is trapped in
an adult's body. Many critics praised Tom Hanks for his "believable" and
"adorable" performance.[1]
Big was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Tom
Hanks) and Best Writing, Original Screenplay.
The film is number 23 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".
Broadway musical
In 1996, Big was made into a musical for the Broadway stage. It featured
music by David Shire, lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr., and a book by John
Weidman. Directed by Mike Ockrent, and choreographed by Susan Stroman, it
opened on April 28, 1996.
DVD
Big has been available on DVD since 1999.
A two-disc extended edition was released on May 8, 2007; this DVD adds 25
minutes of extra footage to the original cut, making the film 130 minutes,
as well as providing additional features on the second disc. Currently this
DVD is only available within Region 1.
Cultural references
* The keyboard scene was parodied in a Simpsons episode, where Homer plays
an off-key rendition of "Rock Around The Clock" and a near-perfect rendition
of the Simpsons main theme at the toy store.
* In an episode of the Family Guy entitled "The Story on Page One" Stewie is
angry about being so small and stumbles upon a Zoltar Speaks machine from
the movie. When Stewie says "I wish I was BIG" Zoltar responds with a card
that reads "I wish I could weigh people."
* There is a homage to Big at the end of an episode of Newsradio entitled
Arcade. Video of scene on Putfile
* In the popular Game Boy Advance games Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, there is
a TV inside the house of the main character; if a player faces it, the main
character will say: "There is a movie on TV. Two men are dancing on a big
piano keyboard. Better get going!"
Trivia
* The movie takes place partially at Playland amusement park in Rye, New
York. Young Josh supposedly lives in Cliffside Park, New Jersey.
* Debra Jo Rupp (who played Kitty Forman on That 70's Show) makes one of her
first screen appearances as Josh Baskin's assistant "Ms. Patterson".
* Robert DeNiro, Robin Williams and Harrison Ford were all considered for
the role of adult Josh.
* The Zoltar machine was recently featured in a Microsoft Windows Live
Messenger online ad campaign.
* Is one of the few PG-rated movies to use the word "fuck" in its uncut
version. Other ones are Beetlejuice, White Water Summer, Sixteen Candles,
Spaceballs, and All the President's Men.
* Even though this movie was rated PG, it was TV-MA on Fox Movie Channel.
* The popular movie 13 Going on 30 has a plot that is loosely based on the
plot of this movie
References
1. ^ http://movies2.nytimes.com/mem/movies/review.html?title1=&title2=BIG%20%28MOVIE%29&reviewer=Janet%20Maslin&v_id=5343&partner=Rotten%20Tomatoes
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