I didn’t have a lot of opportunities to play in my backyard with my dad growing up.  He worked a lot.  He was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at a very young age, which was really hard on his body.  I do remember brief moments though when we did get to play.  One day, my cousin and I were in the backyard playing football.  My dad joined us.  We would punt to him and try and tag him out.  We could never catch him.  He would punt to us, tag us out, and the next thing you know, it was 4th down.  We would punt, couldn’t catch him, touchdown!  He kicked our butts.  We didn’t care.  He was outside playing with us.  Later when I was in junior high, there were a lot more opportunities when he installed a basketball hoop in our driveway.  I was getting older, more competitive, and my dad was a competitive man.  It stopped being fun when I would get stuffed every time I tried a layup. I remember throwing a fit to the point that my dad stopped playing with me.  All I have is my regret now.

The first time I watched “Big,” all I thought about was how awesome it would be to have that happen so I could give my dad a dose of his own “stuffing” medicine.  It was very short-sighted of me, but when you’re a kid, you’re in the “selfish” moment a lot.

Watching Tom Hanks as an adult child is a treasure you can’t forget about. I can only imagine the pure fun that already, “very pleasant” actor had making that movie.

This is the type of movie in which you have to buy the premise.  A boy doesn’t want to be a boy anymore, he makes a wish at a coin dispensary machine…that he realizes was unplugged the entire time…

*cue chills*

…and he wakes up in the morning as Tom Hanks…could’ve been worse, like Steve Guttenberg or something…

Life as an adult at first is not all that great…gets chased out of his house by his mother, his best friend almost cuts him in half with a hockey stick, he doesn’t have anywhere to live or a job.

New meaning to “growing up over night.”

This is a Hollywood movie however and he makes it work, almost to the point where he doesn’t want to be a boy again, of course, because he falls in love with Elizabeth Perkins.

Who’d wanna go back to acne and awkward junior high dances?  Answer: NO-FREAKING-BODY!!!

Like all great movies, there are a lot of great “moments” that everyone refers to: his first encounter with himself in the mirror in the bathroom, his mother chasing him out of the house, the large piano, his “sleep over,” and the unplugging of the “Zoltar.”

Watching Hanks embrace his inner 12 year old is a lot of fun.  When I was a kid, I liked seeing an adult let loose and be goofy like me.

Adults have a fun time watching him learn about the adult world through a 12 year old’s eyes…

…and I feel they learn a little about themselves too.

——

Please join my newsletter #Clintington on Film Dope Sheet.