MovieChat Forums > Big (1988) Discussion > Why did Josh act more like a toddler tha...

Why did Josh act more like a toddler than a 12-13 year old?

posted 13 years ago by EightiesKid
55 replies | jump to latest

Don't get me wrong, this is still a classic 80s family comedy that mixes some sentimental serious moments in with it, but it always bothered me how Josh (especially AFTER he's in Tom Hanks' early 30s body) seems to act like a 6 year old, not someone just becoming a teen. Like how everything in his apartment is like a playground, and he never really does anything exciting once he's in an adult body. His friend Billy seemed a bit more typical though.

(I'm 30 now and born in '81, so I grew up in the 80s only a few years younger than Josh. I knew some older kids and none of them acted that childlike, either did I or any kids from school or my neighborhood back in 1994 at this age.)

Fred Savage in "Vice Versa" was MUCH more believable to me. Charlie was only 11 and he acted older/cooler than Josh (far more accurate to how I remember kids being then). Sure he still had some childhood aspects, but was also a hard rock fan who liked playing drums, and just generally seemed more adventurous.

Did Penny Marshall really believe 12-13 year olds were still that innocent and naive? It just screams "Baby Boomer screenwriter who grew up in the 50s and was totally out of touch with how kids acted in 1988!" to me.

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Great_Gazoo 8 years ago

I've thought the same. The character acts extremely infantile. Far younger than 12/13. More like 5-7 years old. I'd say a large part of it was just Hanks acting. The other boy acts way more like his age- he even mentions getting beer and porn. Josh is into girls in the beginning of the film and later when he's working a co-worker tells him about which women are easy to sleep with and he says "ew, I'll stay away from her then." It totally contradicts the way the actual 12 year old was in the beginning of the film- where he wanted a girlfriend and tried to impress older girls. Hanks also had a primary kindergarten-like wardrobe that make him look extremely childish, and he played with the toys like he was 5 years old.

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Long ago men competed on a show to date a woman who competed on a show to date Flava Flav.

[–] kellymariekitty 8 years ago

Errr sorry but if your 30 now & you wrote this in 2013, you were born in 1983 :) hahahahahahaahahhahaa Im 35 now & i was born in 1981.

2013 - (minus) 30 = 1983 :)

[–] TommyJarvis82 (2567) a year ago

It's the same with all these body swap comedies. I've heard some defend this with the idea that the adult body switch gives them more confidence and a license to goof off and act more like themselves.

[–] Melton (4587) 5 months ago

Presumably it was a committee decision to make him old enough to be interested in girls so it was less creepy when he starts fucking Susan.

Making him 12/13 makes him old enough to be into girls, but unfortunately it makes him too old for Hanks’ comedy kid-acting.

Overall I’m happy to just ‘go with it’ - it’s a high concept supernatural 80’s comedy - but I can see why a more anal viewer might create a thread like this.

[–] TheLonelyOne86 (244) 3 months ago

I honestly think it's more for the benefit of the audience. We're looking at a grown man. We need something to remind us that he's just a kid, so acting goofier and a bit younger than what we expect helps us remember that he's 12, not 30, or whatever age he's physically supposed to be.

Robin Williams does something similar in Hook. As soon as he becomes "Pan" he starts talking in somewhat of a "baby" voice. I think this is so we remember that he's shifted to "Pan", boy who doesn't want to grow up, from the grumpy, old man the audience has been seeing since the start of the film.