Starring: Tom Hanks, Elizabeth Perkins, Robert Loggia, John Heard
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Video: 1.85:1 Widescreen Enhanced for 16:9
Audio: DD Stereo
Extras: Audio Commentary (Gary Ross and Anne Spielberg); Previews; Trailers (2); TV Spot (2); Deleted Scenes (8); Big Beginnings (16 minutes); Chemistry of a Classic (24 minutes); The Work of Play (10 minutes); Hollywood Backstory (21 minutes); Carnival Party Newswrap (2 minutes)
Length: 104 minutes (Theatrical Version), 130 minutes (Extended Version)
Rating: ****
This film tells the story of Josh, a 12-year old, who like every child at one time or another, wishes he were big. At a carnival he doesn’t quite make the height requirement to ride a roller coaster, but happens upon a strange fortune-teller machine named Zoltar who can answer his prayers to be big. Josh makes his wish and finds himself virtually 20 years older (in appearance) by morning. Realizing that the only person he can confide in is his best friend, Josh heads off to the city to try and live like an adult–find a job, a place to live, and interact with the opposite sex. But soon he realizes that there is much more to being a grownup than just being big.
The extended version of the film develops the character’s home lives more and the added scenes actually improve the film. Big puts Penny Marshall (who had directed only one other film at the time) and Tom Hanks (who had not yet blossomed as a star yet) together in what was a comedy hit of the late 80s.
This extended edition has excellent featurettes containing interviews with a majority of the actors and production staff. With superior films you can often trace the elements that have kept it turning around in people’s minds. The “Chemistry of a Classic” section goes through many of these defining moments that ultimately led to the film’s success. The movie is filled with humor, heart, and a trueness that is often missing in this genre. Big is full of hope, yet somber in its view of the adult world–a quiet suggestion that the years of being a child can be a wonderful time in our lives.
— Brian Bloom
