It was the kind of Monday where you wake up and say to yourself, “With one phone call, I could turn this weekend into a magical three day pleasure cruise” and that’s exactly what I did. I dug through my beautiful DVD collection to find the perfect “day off” movie and I landed on the Penny Marshall classic “Big,” starring a young Tom Hanks.
Since living life to its fullest was the theme of the day, I decided the movie required a snack – and not just any snack, but a McAskill sandwich. You’re probably wondering, “What’s a McAskill Sandwich?” A McAskill sandwich is chicken salad, sliced cucumbers, pesto and melted American cheese. As I constructed this beauty and as laid my creation into the hotbed of my foreman grill to melt the cheese, I had a feeling I was forgetting something, but what? A pickle! Of course!
I opened the pantry doors to hunt for my jar of kosher dills and saw a strange light coming from the bottom of the pantry. On the furthest wall of the tiny food room, there was a door I had never seen before. The door was about the size of a laundry chute with a little latch on it. The light beams were getting brighter, shooting out of the edges of the door and I had to investigate more. I opened the door and saw just darkness, but where was the lighting coming from? I thought to myself, “I think this is one of those wormholes Stephen Hawking is always talking about.” Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained, so I dove into the nothingness.
I landed in the science-fiction section of a video store, with VHS tapes stretching as far as the eye could see. I knew I had traveled into the past. I exited the establishment dumfounded, grabbed a newspaper and the date read “June 10th, 1988.” I checked the movie times in the entertainment section to see what was playing and just my luck – “Big” was playing at the glorious Coolidge Corner Theater at 7:30pm. Why watch the DVD when I can see an original 35mm print?!
The logistics of time travel can wait; I have a classic movie to see. I stopped at the grocery store to get all the Ecto Cooler Hi-C I could carry, along the biggest bag of Swedish fish you’ll ever see, and hit the theater early to scout out a good seat. Penny Marshall was the star of a little hit program called “Laverne & Shirley,” one of the million spin-offs of “Happy Days.” Marshall played Laverne and decided to try her hand at directing in 1979. She got her big screen directorial break with “Jumpin’ Jack Flash,” starring the legendary Whoopi Goldberg. “Big” was Marshall’s sophomore directing attempt and she did not disappoint. She is a fantastically talented, comedic actress, but directing is her hidden superpower.
To recap (if you have yet to see this classic), “Big” stars the America’s favorite ‘Bosom Buddy’ Tom Hanks (Splash, Volunteers, Money Pit) and chronicles a 12-year old boy named Josh, who is sick of being small. He makes a wish to be “big” on magical fortune telling machine (Zoltar) at a carnival. Overnight, Josh turns into a 30-year old man (Tom Hanks). Josh freaks out and seeks the help of his best friend Billy. Billy and Josh Hunt for the Zoltar machine to reverse the wish, but in the meantime Josh gets a job at MacMillan toys in New York City and meets a young lady named Susan (Elizabeth Perkins), who helps him become a man (if you catch my drift – a little creepy if you think about it, since he’s TWELVE, Susan!). Now, time travel has rattled me a bit, but I’m going to do my best to review this masterpiece properly.
Let’s start with the story – a beautiful and original concept that deals with two large aspects of life. One: the age-old struggle of being a kid and just wanting respect, essentially to be treated like an adult. Two: the exact opposite of that – missing childhood as an adult and just wanting to go back to the life of play. “Big” really captures that feeling in a subtle way. Josh is terrified to be away from home at first, then he runs wild and loves it, but ultimately realizes he misses being a child. This movie shows us that adulthood isn’t much different from childhood – the bullies want to keep you down, girls are confusing and school is a drag (just like work), but your friends always help you through. There is no need to discuss the direction any further, since I already praised Marshall for being incredible and directing multiple movies that make me tear up. Have you guys even seen “A League of Their Own”?! I ball my eyes out every time (there IS crying in baseball).
If I get the hang of these wormholes, I’m going to catch that in the theater next, I think. As for the cast, Tom Hanks is front in center making every scene a pleasure to watch. He captures the essence of a a naive child, while having the body of a grown man. He is so entertaining. I would even watch a movie that was just him alone on a deserted island. 
His performance was so impressive in “Big” that I wouldn’t be surprised to see a best lead male actor Oscar nomination for his role as Josh Baskin…
Fun fact about “Big” – Robert De Niro was offered the lead role as John Baskin because Tom Hanks had scheduling conflicts, but De Niro wanted too much “dinaro” and Hanks became available. The rest was history. Other actors considered for the role were John Travolta, Albert Brooks and Harrison Ford. An impressive list of great actors, but I couldn’t picture any one of them capturing child-like wonderment like Hanks did. One more fun fact about “Big” is its cinematographer was Barry Sonnenfeld, who went on to direct “The Addams Family,” “Men in Black” and “Get Shorty.”
To sum it up, the underlying moral of “Big” is all men wish they were just a little bit bigger, I think? Maybe I missed the lesson (yes, that was a dick joke). Overall, I give “Big” five homemade oatmeal raisin cookies served on a June 1988 copy of Playboy with India Allen on the cover. Wash those delicious cookies down with an old Mcdonald’s character glass (remember those? I have a Mayor McCheese one) full of chocolate milk – and don’t forget to keep smiling, folks.