When I was younger, like many kids my age, I was obsessed with it GreatPenny Marshall’s fantasy comedy-drama about a 12-year-old boy who wakes up one morning to find he is a fully grown adult , after making a wish the night before. I have long considered it one of best tom hank movies and one of my all-time favorites, so I recently did what every parent does when they want to pass on their nostalgic obsessions to their kids: I sat down and made them watch the 1988 classic.
It was the first time in years that I sat and watched Josh Baskin grow from a pre-teen living in New Jersey to a vice president of product development for a New York-based toy company, and beyond enjoying the movie as I went back to I understood some things. For example, why didn’t I remember that Josh had a father?
Josh has a father, but he disappears
Before my recent rewatch of Great, you could have told me that Josh Baskin’s (David Moscow) mother (played by Mercedes Ruehl) was raising him and his little sister as a single parent because she didn’t remember him having a father. I mean, I can’t be the only one feeling this, and there’s a good reason for that.
Josh’s father (played by Josh Clark) barely appears in the film, his only main lines appearing in the carnival scene at the beginning of the film when he encourages his son to get in line for the Super Loops ride. After that, Mr. Baskin is little more than a source of clothes for Josh (now played by Tom Hanks) after he takes off his pajamas. Whenever Mrs. Baskin talks to the police or asks for help finding her child, Mr. Baskin is nowhere to be found and is never mentioned again.
Susan’s transformation after falling in love with Josh is incredible
Another thing I’ve probably noticed at some point but forgotten over the years is the brilliant transformation Susan Lawrence (Elizabeth Perkins) went through after spending the night at Josh’s apartment. Before this pivotal scene, which doesn’t end as she hoped, Susan is still dressed like the typical 80s yuppie who cares only about climbing the social and professional ladder. But this jaded, image-obsessed toy executive becomes a completely different person because of Josh and his less than cynical nature.
After that night, Susan seems to care more about helping MacMillan Toys grow as a company than about her image. Sure, she’s still as ambitious as before, but after Josh gives her a luminescent compass so she “don’t get lost,” she Susan finds her way into her life and drops out of school. a better person.
Everyone thinks Josh is a competitor’s agent, but he’s just got the heart of a child.
I love how almost everyone at MacMillan Toys thinks Josh Baskin is some sort of agent sent by a competitor after they start pitching some great ideas. Paul Davenport (the late John Heard) is especially suspicious, as he and Susan begin reaching out to other companies to see if anyone knows anything about this boy who seems to be more attuned to children’s toy preferences than anyone else.
This is just one of many examples in the film that highlight the importance of not losing touch with your inner child. It’s great, it adds a beautiful message to Penny Marshall’s film, and it also makes you stop and look at yourself to see if there’s any way for an adult to see life through the eyes of a pretend child.
The mother-son dynamic in Big is one of the best ever.
I’m a fan of movies with a heavy emphasis on the shared relationship between mother and child, and Great She has one of the best mother-son dynamics I’ve ever seen. From the beginning of the movie, you can feel the shared love for Josh and his mother, and that feeling doesn’t really go away for the rest of the movie. In fact, it only gets stronger the longer it lasts.
There is something about their relationship that I have always clung to, perhaps because it reminds me of the bond I share with my mother. There’s this bond with Josh and Mrs. Baskin that hits the nail on the head and really underscores the importance of a strong bond between mother and son, even if the son turns into a grown man and is scared shitless. mom and makes her believe that her eldest son has been kidnapped by the boy Bachelor party.
Like his score in The Lord of the Rings, Howard Shore’s music takes it to the next level
I didn’t know this until recently, but Howard Shore, the composer who won three Oscars for his work The Lord of the Rings movie He also composed the music for Great. As a fan of film scores and rabbit holes involving composers and their work, I am amazed and ashamed that I don’t put two and two together.
There are many examples of Shore’s excellent work Greatbut what struck me the most in my recent rewatch was the song that plays whenever i Josh is with the Zoltar machine. . It’s scary and creepy like a dark circus or something, and it creates a tense atmosphere. If you weren’t familiar with the movie and had just seen this scene, you’d probably think you were watching a horror movie where a little boy is taken in by a smart machine.
The bond between Josh and Billy is the perfect encapsulation of a childhood friendship
Great It’s a relationship movie as much as anything, and since I’ve already covered Josh-Susan and Josh-Mrs. Baskin dynamic, it makes sense to end things with Josh’s friendship with Billy Francis Kopecki (Jared Rushton). Anyone who has ever had a best friend who lived next door knows how fulfilling that friendship is throughout the movie.
They Shimmy Shimmy Cocoa Pop rap , the scene where Josh spends his first paycheck buying lots of junk food and stupid rope with his best friend, talking on the walkie-talkie at night, and even the brief scuffle near the end of the film are just three examples from the film that perfectly sums up a childhood friendship. It’s one of those on-screen friendships that makes you want to call your old neighbor and catch up after all these years.
generally seeing Great for the first time in years, it was an incredible experience that reminded me why I fell in love with film so long ago. You too can take a trip down memory lane and watch Tom Hanks go crazy during the broadcast. Great if you have one Disney+ subscription .
Stream big on Disney+ (opens in a new tab).
Source: Cinemablend
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