BIG (1988) (4 out of 5 stars)
Director: Penny Marshall
20th Century Fox
I’m gonna’ divulge some inner-circle knowledge about working at a video store; believe it or not, one random customer per week without fail will admit to never having seen
Star Wars. It’s widely noted that the most annoying and difficult type of customer at any video store is either a hardcore
Doctor Who fan or a Trekkie (Star Trek nerd). If you notice a strange smirk appear across the face of your local video store attendant who is serving you, it usually means that someone has left a rather scathing remark on the customer database about how much of an irritating/creepy/insolent douche-bag you apparently are to deal with. And finally, if you are searching through the '80s section; you will almost never see a copy of
The Goonies, Weird Science, The Labyrinth, Footloose, Dirty Dancing or the
Never Ending Story because they are always hired out when you want to see them the most.
If you happen to be struggling in the '80s department, fret not faithful friends because all is not lost from that golden period of cinema. Dig a little harder and you will probably come across a copy of the Tom Hanks classic,
Big. You’re all probably thinking that this is not a forgotten flick, but ask yourself this; do you ever include
Big in your mental list of films to look for like the ones noted earlier? If you answered NO, then what are you waiting for?
As far as '80s flicks go,
Big is bursting at the celluloid seams with all of the classic elements that make people gravitate towards films of this era. It’s got adventure, a great soundtrack, tons of toys including a giant keyboard, a supernatural arcade machine called Zoltar and within the context of the story; a strangely plausible romance between a 12 year-old boy and a woman in her 30s.
In the meantime, anyone out there who hasn’t seen
Star Wars yet, hurry up and pop your Jedi cherry already, jeez!
- Review by Jordan Bloomer
Here's the
Big movie trailer: