Tom Hanks Makes an Excellent Overgrown Kid in Big

Several years ago, I saw 13 Going on 30, the Jennifer Garner romantic comedy about a teen who wishes her way into a life 17 years in the future, at which point she has everything she thought she wanted and is miserable. Hearing about the movie beforehand, I thought it sounded largely like a knockoff of Big, the whimsical Penny Marshall movie I recently re-watched. I wouldn’t really say that anymore, but one thing they most definitely have in common is an adult star putting in a winning performance as a 13-year-old in unfamiliar skin.

In the case of Big, it’s Tom Hanks who suddenly finds himself in adult shoes, but he’s not catapulted into a future of his own creation. Instead, the morning after a humiliating carnival experience leads him to ask the Zoltar wish-granting machine to make him big, he awakes in his own room with a very different body and must try to figure out how to explain this sudden growth spurt to his mother and best friend. His traumatized mom doesn’t buy it, but his buddy, the more world-wise Billy (Jared Rushton), eventually does. With his help, he heads for the city to rent an apartment and get a job to make ends meet until he can figure out how to undo his wish.

Hanks brings both vulnerability and exuberance to the role of Josh, who is such a fish out of water, at least at first. At times, he seems almost too youthful for his 12-year-old self, but there’s an extra dose of incredulity at play because he is seeing everything from such a fresh perspective. On the other end of things, he settles into his new data entry job at a toy company very quickly, without even really needing to be told what to do. However, he soon lands a new position for which his youthful outlook makes him unusually qualified. What kid wouldn’t love a job that essentially requires testing out toys all day? The scene in which he lands this promotion is pure joy as he and his genial boss (Robert Loggia) show all of the customers in the super-sized toy store what fun it is to play, regardless of age.

The most fun parts of the movie are those that similarly allow Josh freedom to be a kid in his adult body. When his raise lets him relocate from a seedy hotel to a lavish apartment – a little unrealistically lavish, I think, considering how long he has been working, but then this film is fully fantastical – he turns it into the ultimate G-rated bachelor pad. Watching him in this environment is a blast, and it’s fun to survey the expansive space and see the quirky way in which he has chosen to furnish his new home. It’s also amusing to see how his frank insights frustrate his co-workers, who are used to analyzing everything to death.

However, there is a bittersweet edge to the story as he begins to adjust to the adult world and slowly he becomes more grown up than Billy. Rushton is convincing as a boy who is willing to accept his friend’s strange circumstances but never expects them to be permanent. He’s particularly effective as he conveys Billy’s hurt feelings as Josh begins to move more fully into the adult world. Now that Josh has gotten his wish, will he even want to go back to the way things were? Is being “big” all it’s cracked up to be? And how much longer will Billy have to shoulder the burden of the truth alone while Josh’s distraught parents wonder when their son will return?

I love Loggia in the role of the paternal boss who finds Josh’s outlook so refreshing, and Hanks and Rushton are great together. It’s easy to forget that they aren’t really the same age; they really do just seem like two schoolyard chums. While romance was central to 13 Going on 30, it’s more of a side plot here as Josh becomes involved with Susan (Elizabeth Perkins), a coworker entranced by his unaffected manner. This storyline is sweet in one way but uncomfortable in another, since we know that Josh is really psychologically in early adolescence. The movie strongly implies a level of intimacy between them that made me squirm; Susan has no idea that Josh isn’t exactly the 30-year-old he appears to be, so it’s not like she’s intentionally seducing a junior high schooler, but it just feels a bit icky to me. I would have preferred if they hadn’t let it progress that far, but then that action is a major catalyst for Josh’s behavior later in the movie.

Ultimately, while 13 Going on 30 is mostly about appreciating the people who truly care about you and maintaining your integrity, Big is about savoring your childhood and not being too eager to jump into the privileges of adulthood, which come with an equal share of pressures. As a romance, it fizzles a bit for me, but as a reflection on retaining the joy of childhood, I’d say it’s right on target.

An Angel Helps Bring Unity in The Preacher's Wife

Back in late November, I arranged my Netflix queue so that I would be getting nothing but Christmas movies for the next month or so. The first of my Christmas flicks was The Preacher's Wife, which I'd been meaning to see for quite some time. Though I knew it was a remake of The Bishop's Wife, which I'd never seen either, I opted for the more recent movie first, since I wanted to watch it without knowing most of the basic plot ahead of time.

The title character in The Preacher's Wife, which is directed by Penny Marshall, is Julia Biggs, played by pop powerhouse Whitney Houston. Julia is the daughter of a much-loved preacher, and she is extremely active in the church where her husband Henry (Courtney B. Vance) took over for him following his death. Henry has devoted his life to caring for others, but it's become exhausting, and now Joe Hamilton (Gregory Hines), a wealthy former congregant, wants to buy his church and replace it with a fancy new cathedral in a location more convenient for his plans for the city.

With so many issues to deal with at once, Henry cries out in desperation for divine assistance, and his prayer results in an extended visit from Dudley, an angel portrayed by Denzel Washington. Dashing Dudley, who has a knack for lifting spirits with a touch of his hand, is the real star of the show, the catalyst who brings about extraordinary changes in a downtrodden neighborhood. Some are more open to him than others. The young narrator, Jeremiah (Justin Pierre Edmund), son of Henry and Julia, is initially wary but soon comes to trust Dudley completely. Meanwhile, Julia begins spending more and more time with him, finding him personable and much more accessible than her husband is these days, and Henry, who along with Jeremiah is the only character with an inkling of who Dudley really is, has trouble seeing anything angelic in some handsome stranger sweeping his wife off her feet.

The Preacher's Wife is a very sweet movie about a community coming together in a time of crisis and a man adjusting his life to reclaim the joy and enthusiasm that used to drive him. It's about rekindling a relationship and expanding the definition of family. And, of course, it's about being willing to call upon a higher power when life is getting a little out of hand. Like Clarence of It's a Wonderful Life, Dudley is not a theologically correct angel; he's a former human, back to Earth for the first time since his death, and given his exhilaration at his return, it's fairly understandable that he finds himself drawn to Julia, to the point of misusing the powers bestowed upon him (as when he stops every red light in town so Henry will be unable to join them for an ice skating outing). Dudley may be an angel, but he isn't perfect.

He sure is lovable, though, and plenty easy on the eyes. I always tend to enjoy Denzel Washington's performances, and this mostly light-hearted role is one of my favorites. Dudley isn't into grand gestures, which makes it fun to see the subtler ways he affects those around him. I was previously familiar with Vance as Jim in The Adventures of Huck Finn, where I thought he made the perfect faithful counterpart to Elijah Wood's rascally Huck. Initially, he's not quite as likable here, but that changes as we get a sense of the man he used to be and could be again. Houston gives a good performance, though I find her less interesting than her co-stars, partly because the movie often seems more interested in showcasing her singing talent than developing her character. One or two of her big numbers feel entirely superfluous, and my favorite songs are those in which the voices of children are more prominent. Speaking of which, little Edmund is absolutely adorable, and his perspective gives the movie extra heart.

There are points at which The Preacher's Wife seems to borrow heavily from It's a Wonderful Life, but then that is one of a small number of classics that have found their way into dozens of Christmas tales. This has a story all its own to tell, even in comparison with The Bishop's Wife, and it's one that's almost sure to leave you smiling.