Review of Big (1988) by Filipeneto — 27 Apr 2020

There are films made just to entertain, which are not made to be big, but end up being so dear to the public that they resist the passage of time and continue to win over fans. I think this film is one of those.

What is the child who has never felt like being an adult once and for all, in order to be able to do everything that is not left behind? Well, that is the basis of this film, where a boy asks a machine for a simple wish: to be big. The popular fair machine, very similar to one of those fair mystics or fortune tellers, grants him the wish and, in fact, the next day, he appears to be at least thirty years old and has to run away from home because his own mother he doesn't recognize him and calls the police.

Okay, I grant that the script is very childish and has lots of holes if we start thinking about it. One of the biggest, and most difficult to miss, is the strange way in which the young man, now unusually grown up, manages to manage his apparent disappearance with his own mother. It just doesn't make sense and it was something that could have been more explored by the script: uprooting, homesickness, family, having to move and being independent without being prepared for it. But the script didn't want to reach that depth and I understand the reasons: it made the movie joke, it gave it more drama and the film, after all, is a comedy. It's all right. It is quite good as it is!

Tom Hanks has, in this film, one of several comedies with which he started his career in cinema, after having made some very successful TV sitcoms of that decade, such as “Family Ties”. He is still quite raw as an actor, but here, in this film, we already have signs of his talent, his charisma, qualities that opened doors for him, after all. He takes the film well, carries it with him until the end and shines, making the audience laugh without losing quality in the most emotional moments of the plot. Beside him, we have a capable cast where we can mention Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia and also the young Jared Rushton. The role of villain, perhaps the least well thought out and most poorly conceived in the film, is up to John Heard.

In addition to a well thought out and developed cast, with creative moments of humor, and a good performance by Hanks and the cast that surrounds him, we can mention a very competent photograph, although within the standards of the time when the film was made, an elegant but discreet soundtrack and a simple and artifical direction work.

Made to entertain, to make you laugh, this family movie is quite fun and very suitable, even today, for a family evening. Personally, I think it is one of the happiest and best-made comedies of the 80s. So much so that, from time to time, it still takes place on the television grid of specialty channels and continues to win over fans, over thirty years after the debut. There is no better prize than this, I think.