I actually saw Big in the theater when it came out in 1988 and several times later of video or on cable.
A week ago, all four of us (me, Andrea, our daughter Randie and our dog Rosie) were in the living room at the same time and decided at random to watch Big.
When Big first came out, it was one of several body swap/age switching movies that were released around the same time. If I remember correctly, Big was among the last of these that came out, risking that the whole premise would be played out. But Big is the most fondly remembered of these movies. A lot of credit goes to Tom Hanks' performance as the adult version of Josh. Tom Hanks deftly threads a needle to capture a 12 year old mind in an adult's body while having Josh not act completely weird. Josh lucks into a job a toy company where his being a literal 12 year old boy gives him an advantage over the other market research driven adults in understanding what kids actually want. The trick is for Josh to still have a sense of wonder and naivete but not so much that the other adults around him think he's brain damaged.
Tom Hanks as the adult Josh calls to mind Peter Sellers from Being There as Chance the gardener whose limited knowledge is frequently discerned as wisdom which elevates him in Washington DC society. Josh isn't stupid but his knowledge is limited by only being 12 years old. In many ways, this limitation makes Josh a better adult than the other real adults around him. A lot of pressures are applied to us in our teen years that tends to poison the well of what made us good people when we were young. Skipping from 12 to adult, Josh has avoided the indoctrination of what we must do to succeed in a career, to achieve dominance, all the grown up stuff that destroys the wonder and innocence of our youth. Adult Josh still has that which is very appealing to Susan.
Susan Lawrence is the epitome of high level success for a 1980s woman with shoulder pads, skirts and heels. An executive at the toy company, she is fully dedicated to the quest for success and dominance in business. Her encounters with Josh expose her to a new way of thinking.
Like the fun one might have on a trampoline.
This is the part of the movie that comedians love to make fun of nearly 30 years later: Susan's budding romantic relationship with Josh who we will remember only has the body of an adult Tom Hanks but is really a 12 year old boy. OK, Josh has a birthday while transformed so Josh's inner boy self is now 13. So being 13 doesn't really make it completely better. It's still weird.
Josh also realizes he's missing out on growing up. (Yelling at the TV that no, he's not missing much doesn't help.) And he has a mother at home who is frantic with worry as she believes her young son was abducted by some weird pervert who looks like Tom Hanks wearing Josh's underwear.
So Josh reverses the wish, turns back into a boy once more while Susan will spend several years working through this in therapy.
One other point: Big was directed by Penny Marshall, becoming the first woman director to make a film with a gross more than $100 million at the U.S. box office.
Big is a sweet, charming movie with a very important lesson about what it really means to be an adult.
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