Episode 81 - Big

When you were 12, did you ever wish you were bigger? And did you
also ever wish to make your mom think you got kidnapped and that
a 30-something brash woman with smoker's breath would have sex
with you while also pretending to be your new mommy? If so, then
the 1988 Penny Marshall movie "Big" starring Tom Hanks is right
up your alley.


Sure, the sickly sweet score, oversized piano dancing, cushy job
at a toy company, and silly-string fights make this film feel
like a light-hearted age-swap romp, but when you actually look at
what this movie is about, it feels more like a horror movie.


Hanks plays Josh Baskin, a kid who made a wish on a racist
fortune teller machine and then aged about 20 years overnight.
He's obsessed with little kid toys even though he's weeks away
from turning 13, and he doesn't seem to mind pretending to be his
own kidnapper to his distraught mother faster than he can say,
"I'm technically getting molested by my co-worker!"


Elizabeth Perkins plays Susan Lawrence, Josh's said jaded,
workaholic, man-eating, 30-something co-worker who falls for a
man with the mind of a 12-year-old boy and doesn't seem all that
fazed when she finds out he actually is 12 years old. 


Robert Loggia plays Mr. MacMillan, the aloof owner of the
toy company Josh quickly climbs the ladder of, whose entire
character is to pretend that every innocent and dumb thing that
comes out of Josh's mouth is somehow insightful and refreshing
even when they're not.


To round out the cast, we have John Heard (the dad from "Home
Alone") as Hank's one-sided rival, Mercedes Ruehl as Josh's super
sad mother, and Jared Rushton (one of the shrunken kids in
"Honey, I Shrunk the Kids") as Josh's wily best friend, Billy
Kopecki. 


Join us discuss all the 26 minutes of weird scenes that were
added to the "extended cut" of this movie, wonder why the police
don't seem to care much that the young Josh is missing, and
question how Tom Hanks' version of Josh is able to get a bank
account and rent an expensive apartment without even knowing his
own social security number. 


Tell us what you think by chatting with us (@filmsnuff)
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shooting us an email over at mailbag@filmsnuff.com.


This episode is sponsored by Negative Footprint.


Visit our website at https://www.filmsnuff.com.