TrueHello
Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.
SeeQuant
Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction
Darin
One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.
bhavinshukla-39630
Again NO words to describe Hanks...and also the storyline.How do thay get this idea?
Robert Porter
Every now & then, there comes a film that breaks the mould. And this film does this on so many levels. It's very clever writing, but even better performances by the main cast of about 3 people. It's a film that emphasises the sadness found in happy moments. The 13 year old boy finds enjoyment becoming adult, & the girl can't help but enjoy acting childish. Both swap places by the final act of the film, & that's what makes it so dynamic. I love the candour on display here. They straight out depict the working life as a stressful one which leaves no time for enjoyment. This makes the girl feel like she has very little time left for finding true love. And that in itself is also stressing her out, until she realises that love isn't the only root to enjoyment. And as they both learn to adapt to each other, they fall in love. It's very sweet, & it is handled very sincerely. It is directed in that inimitable seamless way of the late 80's, where long takes, static lock off shots, & eye-level angles make you forget the camera is even in the room. And the music is used sparingly, but effectively. It's a film I keep coming back to every 5 years. It reminds me not to take age for granted, & it also reminds me how lucky I was to be in love once. It's also very funny! Go see it.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Big" is an American English-language movie from 1988, so this one will already have its 30th anniversary next year. It i maybe the most known work by director Penny Marshall, an experienced actress as well. The script is by Gary Ross and you will find many known films in his body of work (after all he has 4 Oscar noms) such as "The Hunger Games". His co-writer was Anne Spielberg, sister of Steven, who received her very first and so far only Oscar nomination for this 100-minute film. But the star is of course lead actor Tom Hanks. This film brought Hanks a Golden Globe win and his very first Oscar nomination. In here he plays a 13-year-old boy in the body of a grown man. The premise is one that could have gone crucially wrong actually if handled with less competence, but Hanks is hitting all the right notes. See for yourself what he does in here and you will most likely agree. Hanks' performance also results in this film being truly memorable in what it teaches the individual audience member, namely to stay young at heart, even if it is not really a voluntary decision for the central character. There are two scenes in particular that emphasize this message. The first would be the piano scene, which is probably the best from the entire film and a moment of true movie magic. It is probably also the reason why Robert Loggia received some awards attention here. The second would be the trampoline scene which is basically a slightly weaker, but still pretty great, version of the piano scene. Another favorite scene for me was the fight with whom you could maybe consider the main antagonist in this film. It shows how the latter is also still very much a child, but not in a good way while Hanks' character's actions are somewhat justifiable by his real age. This also shows that the protagonist is not a hero who wants to help everybody in finding happiness in life and embracing their inner self. They need to want it themselves mostly.This may be a fantasy film to some extent, but it is really much more of a comedy/drama. The references about the reason why he changes (i.e. this strange machine) are kept at a minimum early on in the film and very late. There is no talk about other wishes being granted although honestly this machine could have been used for several sequels. But maybe it is a good thing that it wasn't. I also want to talk a bit about the ending. I really wished for the woman deciding to transform into a child as well, but I think they probably made the right decision. Another reason why this is not really fantasy film and Hanks' character is also in the center of it all. But even if my wish was not granted, I very much liked the ending. It felt authentic and realistic and that's more important than a feel-good happy ending. Not that this was an unhappy ending. not at all. But really hoping for one particular ending also shows us how much we cared about the characters and their relationships in here. I think this film is a tremendous success and for Hanks probably on par with his very best career efforts. It maybe a bit of a one-man show, but if this one man is as convincing as in here, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. A must-see and my new favorite film from 1988. Of course the script is really good too. Only one example: the ways in which the kids react towards the grown-ups: The best friend tells the protagonist how he looks like **** as a grown-up or the best friend is disgusted by the protagonist's girlfriend. This is exactly the way kids would react in this scenario. Very well done. No surprise everybody loves Hanks with films like this in his body of work.
davekeanu
I got to say I am huge fan of the 80s from TV shows to movies I love the sound tracks to the shows and the movies. I am also a huge fan of tom hanks I love his movies he was a amazing in forest gump. I also started watching this movie its seems very good for a tom hanks movie at first I thought it was going to be stupid but I ended up loving it. It was funny enjoyable I can related to the main character being either too young or too old or dumb or smart but I think the learning message from this movie is to enjoy your life while you can weather your a kid a teenage or an adult just keep enjoying your life and have a great time. Overall still a great movie worth seeing Thumbs up
