Siskel & Ebert - Big (1988)

[@63002]

A league and big are GREAT

[@Locadel2003]

This movie made Tom Hanks what he is now, made his career go from good comedies to legendary movies, he did only phenomenal movies after Big... A league of their own 1992, Philadelphia 1993, Sleepless in seattle 1993, Forrest Gump 1994, Toy story 1995, Apollo 13 1996, That thing you do 1996, Saving private ryan 1998, You ve got an e mail 1998, The green mile 1999, Toy story 2 1999, Cast away 2000, Catch me if you can 2002, Road To perdition 2002.....and so on....a legendary actor

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

Yeah Splash was very well-received, but with his first Oscar nom i guess Big made him A-List for the first time. He then had a few critical/commercial setbacks (Punchline, Vanities, Joe vs The Volcano) before ALOTO began his final climb from which there was no coming back.

[@rossviles7794]

True although The Terminal and The Ladykillers were anything but phenomenal.

[@Vaderd2k926]

These guys were the pinnacle of movie review shows. I so enjoyed their chemistry. Really miss them.

[@OldMusicFan83]

It was a simpler time

[@Jbaxter85]

I love BIG, real classic heartwarming, coming-of-age comedy love story. Tom hanks' comedic performance makes the flim special. Romance between Tom & Elisabeth is very sweet. It's entertainment for adults and kids.

[@Diskoboy1974]

I still say Hanks should've won the Oscar for this movie.

[@yaswanthgosukonda311]

Well, what he did actually was very difficult. He had to convincing portray a kid who was in the body of an adult. He could've gone wrong in so many places, but he doesn't. It is a really a great performance. I read in this magazine called Premiere that it was the 15th best performance of all time. I don't think his performance is that great, but he really did deserve the oscar more than anybody else that year.

[@Diskoboy1974]

@@yaswanthgosukonda311 Dusitin Hoffman definitely deserved the Oscar that year. But Hanks' performance still resonates all these years later whereas Rain Man has just kinda faded away.

[@linkbiff1054]

Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe disagree

[@mindriot91_96]

Hanks was great but Hoffman was on another level in Rain Man.

[@joshmorgan407]

Hanks deserved to win over Hoffman. Travolta deserved to win over Hanks in 1994. Hoffman was great in Rainman, but even he tells people he didn't give the best performance in that movie. Cruise was better. Hoffmans best performance was Tootsie, which he didn't get a win for

[@nickperkins8477]

My favorite part of the movie is right before Josh decides to return to childhood. Every single time, the sequence where he is looking at the kids on the playground knowing he needs to be there and can’t be there as the adult hits me in the gut.

[@synthguy7774]

And what really added on to that was when Josh tells Elizabeth that he has a million reasons to go back home but he only has one to stay...

[@YouCantHoldOnTooLong]

I saw Big at a local Missoula Montana movie theater back in 1988 when I was nine years old, and I'll never forget, when Josh kissed Susan during the Moonlight Serenade scene, the whole audience enthusiastically applauded! ~Dutch

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Even your nine year old self? ;) When I saw it I was a bit older than you were but I also applauded. Because he wasn't a "typical guy" just operating from his hormones you got the sense that it was 100% genuine and it gave that kiss that much more impact. The scene from the next morning when he springs out of the elevator with a big smile on his face brought the house down too... (One can only imagine how THAT night went!)

[@kevinbergin2225]

The best scene is where they played Heart and Soul on that piano.

[@curleed85]

I also like Big. I saw it for the first time on Disney+ out of curiosity, and it met my expectations. I think the best scene is when Hanks does his piano scene, bonding with his boss.

[@benjiarehart2878]

Big was the Hit of the year. I remember seeing it twice when it came out. I was already a Tom Hanks fan from Bachelor. Elizabeth Perkins was a Stone Cold Fox!!!

[@beetlebum7760]

Absolutely, I have to admit that I fall in love with her character each time I watch the movie.

[@RatnDat]

Lots of nostalgia here. I grew up watching Siskel & Ebert and the movie Big came out my senior year of high school. I watched Big again tonight after at least 20 years and I hoped someone would have this review on KZbin. Thank you for posting this.

[@rosario508]

My favorite part of the movie is when he drags her onto the trampoline. I always found that most amusing.

[@TobeyStarburst]

Great review!

[@jesperschultz2727]

That introduction though... phew... I get completely sweaty: Such a fine line of movies in just one week!! Nowadays they come up with three movies worth watching every half a year eventhough there are such tremendous amounts of money in the movie industry. What a shame.

[@Dupontman627]

There's an Italian counterpart called "Da Grande" featuring Renato Pozzetto

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

Love this movie. I feel it should have won Best Picture, but that's just me. One thing: Have you ever seen two people rock back and forth and shift around in their seats as much as Siskel and Ebert when they talk? Not a jab at them, but just an observation.

[@FranciscoPerez-nr3vr]

I thought this review was lost

[@DonOnAMeme]

In "Big 2" things get really dark. Josh keeps looking more and more like his kidnapper the older he gets, driving his mother insane.

[@MichaelSTaylor]

Director Penny Marshall goes unmentioned again, a shame. She got the very best out of Hanks through many demanding takes, and got the very best out of a story that would have been just another forgettable bodyswitch clone without her.

[@sifugurusensei]

You are correct. She doesn't get enough credit.

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

And the method of shooting all the adult scenes with David Moscow (the Young Josh actor) first, so Hanks’ performance is more believable as that kid in adult form. RIP to an underrated filmmaker overall.

[@mirwaissnajibi]

They said this was the fourth version of this type of plot sequence in a film. I'm missing the fourth we have 1. Big 2. Vice Versa 3. Like Father Like Son and I don't know the other one.

[@mindriot91_96]

I think the 4th is 18 Again! (1988). Siskel mentions it around the 3:33 mark.

[@RobD-jq7ry]

18 again is right with George burns.

[@notthatyouasked6656]

There are many others - Freaky Friday, 13 Going on 30, etc.

[@mmsiphonevinyls1027]

@@notthatyouasked6656 theres been loads, but those 3 were all in the 12-18 months before Big’s release. It nearly led to a recast as initially Tom was unavailable, and waiting would make Big come out last. Thankfully they felt he was so perfect they opted to wait.

[@justinfive4206]

Even as a kid I found this movie very creepy. Take a minute and really think about what happens in the plot.

[@MyLateralThawts]

I found the movie fun, but I had to laugh while agreeing with my friend who pointed out that a grown woman, having a relationship with a little boy in a grownups body, still constitutes statutory rape.

[@MyLateralThawts]

@@Hosenrolle1 well women have gone to jail for having sex with underage boys (even 13 year olds) in the past. See Mary Kay LeTournou).

[@markabt7581]

Chris Hanson, would agree with you.

[@justinfive4206]

@@Hosenrolle1 You obviously did really think about it. You expressed your opinion quite eloquently. You made some very valid points. Nonetheless, in my opinion, the film is creepy.

[@STONESGAM]

@@MyLateralThawts Some people just have to take the fun out of everything. Too bad this movie that came out 33 years ago doesn't meet the high expectations of today's woke standards. Which is making life so much fun for everyone.