So today this movie is 32 years old! Yes June 3rd, 1988 Penny Marshall had this movie playing in US cinemas. I have watched this film 100's and i mean 100's of times, It is my all time favourite film, and with it being its birthday i thought i had really better review it for you guys. I will keep it spoiler free, just in case there are people out there who have not had the pleasure of seeing it.
So the movie! Joshua Baskin (played by David Moscow) is a 12 year old boy who lives in New Jersey with his parents and infant sister Rachel. Your normal 12 year old who hangs out with his best friend, Billy Francis Kopecki (played by Jared Rushton). Josh has developed a crush for a girl at his school, Cynthia Benson (played by Kimberlee M. Davis), Freddie Benson's Sister! Josh is over the moon when one day, while being stood outside a shop, shuffling through his baseball cards, with the usual "need it, got it, got it need it". Which i'm sure you have all done in your youth. Anyway back to this moment! Cynthia actually says "hi Josh". Well Billy is first to react and to tell Josh she must like him. With the Carnival in town Josh's parent's take him along to have some family fun. While there Josh notices Cynthia queuing for the Super Loops ride. She looks on her own, so Josh convinces his parents that he wants to go on it, and on his own. He pushes his way through the queue to where Cynthia is stood, as they begin to chat, Derek arrives, She introduces him to Josh and says to Josh, "this is Derek, he drives". As Josh gets to the front of the queue, his hopes of credibility are dashed as the operator of the ride tell him, he is too small to ride. With a sunken heart, the devastated boy walks away, as he is stood still, he notices a machine just slightly on its own, away from the usual video game section. Something attracts Josh to go to the machine. Its a Zoltar! Josh reads the instructions, inserts his 25 cents into the machine. Nothing happens! Josh gives it a little whack, then another, then another. Suddenly, the machine kicks into life! Josh follows the instructions and makes his wish. He utter the words "I wish i was Big", before hitting the red button, that releases his coin, down the ramp and a direct hit, into the mouth of Zoltar. A card drops out of the bottom of the machine, one side has the Zoltar emblem, with the words "Zoltar Speaks" and the opposite side says "your wish is granted". At this point a bewildered Josh notices that the machine is not connected to and electrical supply! He goes home, during a windy night in New Jersey, something magical happens! In the morning, Joshua slips from his top bunk and stumbles off to the bathroom. It is here that he has a shock! As he looks into the mirror, its not him looking back! its an older version (played by Tom Hanks). This scares Josh and does not know what to do! This starts a series of events, he tries to get Billy to help. When Josh approaches Billy, he does not think its Josh. Josh convinces him with their song, The Ice Cream Song
The space goes...
down down baby, down down the roller coaster.
Sweet sweet baby, sweet sweet don't let me go.
shimmy shimmy coco pop, shimmy shimmy rock,
etc
With the help of Billy he is able to run off to the city, to try to solve his problem. Its here, lonely and afraid that Josh's life changes.
As you can gather this movie is very very close to my heart and love every minute of it, even knowing the Ice Cream Song off by heart. Tom Hanks is an amazing actor and this movie really did help gather momentum behind his career and push him on to the major roles we know he got afterwards. I must say i also love the character of Susan (played by Elizabeth Perkins).
I hope i have inspired you to re-watch or even watch for the first time this movie. Its a long post, i know i haven't spoilt it with spoilers, so go and indulge in this multi award winning fantasy comedy movie. Try to see if you can see the extended version, its 2 hours 10 minutes, compared to 1 hour 44 minutes of the standard version, so nearly an extra half an hour of pleasure.
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