Tom Hanks' BIG performance!!!. Review on Big Movie

BIG(1988) is one of Tom Hanks most endearing films. It was a breakthrough film in Hanks’ great career-a film, which catapulted him to the exalted A-list of Hollywood stars. The film explores a surreal theme of a teenager changing into a fully-grown man overnight-a not so novel theme but made memorable by Hanks’ splendid performance for which he deservedly got an Oscar nomination. It’s a performance, which seems effortless- a time when his performances were not weighed down by gargantuan expectations.

BIGhas a simple story: Josh is a 13-year-old kid who wants to go on a date with a much older girl. When he sees his dream-girl being picked up by an older guy he wistfully wishes he were older and lo and behold a machine at a carnival grants his wish. The next day Josh wakes up as a fully-grown up man (Tom Hanks) and that’s when the FUN begins.

Now BIG is not your typical Hollywood film that forces you to think and ponder and forcefully thrust down a message down your throat. It’s a simple, straightforward fantasy yarn narrated with unwavering focus by its director PENNY MARSHALL. It has loads of humour and thankfully not the “Dude-Where’s my car”; kind of slapstick and crass humour but humour which emanates naturally from the script. The film’s plot is deceptively simple but yet in its light-hearted manner it is able to delve into issues like the divide between adulthood and childhood and the meaning of being adult- DOES BEING ADULT MEAN LOSING YOUR SENSE OF FUN, ADVENTURE & INNOCENCE??

The film also very sensitively and subtly shows the changes Josh experiences as an adult:His first step which he takes as an adult when he gets out of bed (instead of gentle footsteps he hears a THUD as he walks); the complex relationship he has with his co-worker Elizabeth Perkins who has a crush on him and how he deals with it and of course his interaction with the company president makes for fascinating viewing-watch their wonderful piano duet!!!

But what really makes BIG so special and heartwarming is Tom Hanks. What a performance!!! A performance, which can be so easily overlooked or glossed over when compared with his other latter day “weightier” roles. However Hanks brings to this role an innate charm and warmth that makes it memorable. He is exquisitely restrained when it could have been so easy for another actor to go overboard. He is absolutely top-notch when he is all alone in a hotel---- lonely and frightened, he curls up in bed and weeps with a pillow just like a 13 year old would do. Hanks remarkably brings out Josh’s dilemma of slowly coming to terms with his adulthood yet acutely missing out on the simple pleasures of childhood.

I first watched BIG when I was a teen-ager and I have watched it many times over since then. I enjoyed it then and I enjoy it now. So guys if u haven’t seen BIG by any chance..GO FOR IT!!! And if u have seen it..well..indulge yourself once more and have a BIG laugh with BIG..

Cheers!!!