Review of Big (1988) by Joshua D — 11 Jul 2011

I'd call it too easy to highlight a pressing worldview in the face of civil adversity. In other words, the choice isn't fair to leave it at letting shit hit the fan or the good times to roll. Common ground? Actor Tom Hanks, short and simple. For him yarning massive history lessons from a park bench would cut it, even if the tale was of frenzied relation between cowboys and spacemen. It makes sense in the universe as he tells it, and Hanks works sentimental wonders.

Ditto for his role in Penny Marshall's "Big", where Hanks plays a kid Josh (retro edition by David Moscow) who makes a wish under the stars one night at Coney Island and soon becomes a thirty-year-old dude fronting in NYC at a straggling toy company. Josh moves up the ladder quick with innocence noted by zoo head MacMillan (Robert Loggia). The idea's to pamper his weird wonder and take down the bored gadgets of Paul (John Heard), total duds with the kids. Then there's Paul's glitzy GF Susan as done by Elizabeth Perkins, shy smile protruding to the heart of her right cheek. She falls for the simple Josh, the latter's head still spinning from surprise, to the shock of best friend Billy (Jared Rushton), who just wants his birthday-cheap buddy back.

Marshall's film shouldn't have succeeded with all this tack, but goes to take constant awe of the details in the machine Josh has fallen into. How does "Big" do it, stay so crimeless, so above the grime around it? The supposed villain Paul's a sidelined wuss, so it's up in the air. Maybe the legitimacy of the script by Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg (sister of Steven) that places "Big" in a sort of boombox cosmos where society differs not in age, but in the presence of candles it's expected to annually blow out. Josh is wowed by how plain things come to those who don't wait. It's a minor achievement for Marshall and the great Hanks that feels subtly earned, wizardry beneath the surface of everyday activity where there's found time to stop and look around.