Big
Metascore

Generally favorable reviews - based on 15 Critics What's this?

User Score

Generally favorable reviews- based on 29 Ratings

  • Starring: Elizabeth Perkins, Tom Hanks
  • Summary: At a carnival, young Josh Baskin wishes he was big only to awake the next morning and discover he is! With the help of his friend Billy, Josh lands a job at a toy company. But the more he experiences being an adult, the more Josh longs for the simple joys of childhood. (20th Century Fox)
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 13 out of 15
  2. Negative: 1 out of 15
  1. Reviewed by: Donna Britt
    100
    Unpretentious as it is, Big takes you beyond laughter, to where you live. And there's nothing small about that. [3 Jun 1988, p.1D]
  2. Reviewed by: Ian Nathan
    80
    As a crowd-pleasing comedy it works. But it really could have been so much more.
  3. Reviewed by: Llyod Sachs
    50
    It's too involved in administering its reversion fantasy to acquisition-guilty yuppies to cast an eye on its own venture status. And the contradictions don't stop there. That this celebration of the Peter Pan syndrome was directed by a woman, Penny Marshall, adds another layer of dishonesty. [3 Jun 1988, p.31]
  4. Once again, the overall premise is milked for some mild titillation involving the hero's sexual innocence, making one wonder if the genre's popularity might involve some deeply sublimated form of kiddie porn--arguably the distilled ideological essence of squeaky-clean Reaganism.

See all 15 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 3 out of 4
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 4
  3. Negative: 1 out of 4
  1. 8
    This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. I finally got a chance to see this movie recently. While the beginning felt like it was rushed, once Josh becomes an adult, everything is hilarious and sweet from that moment till the beautiful ending. Expand
  2. 6
    Tom Hanks shows his acting prowess, and get a deserved Oscar nomination, for his role in this entertaining tale of a boy who becomes a man overnight. Although now over twenty years old the film does still hold up today and the concept still hasn't been bettered. Expand
  3. The movie is cheesy and childish; the only thing that holds the movie in one piece is Tom Hanks.
  4. JaredC.
    2
    More like 1-year-old comedy.

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