80s Movie Review - Big

Director: Penny Marshall
Genre: Comedy/ Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 104 minutes
Year: 1988
Starring: Tom Hanks, Robert Loggia, Elizabeth Perkins, John Heard, Debra Jo Rupp, Jared Rushton, Jon Lovitz

Description: When a boy wishes to be big at a magic wish machine, he wakes up the next morning and finds himself in an adult body.

Review: It has been done several times: characters that wake up in a different body. “Freaky Friday”, “13 Going on 30”, “Vice Versa”. “Big” is from 1988, but still the best film with this theme. “Big” is original, funny and touching. Because who hasn’t dreamed of being big as a kid?

Josh is a 13-year old teenager from New Jersey. While visiting a carnival, he is too short to go on a cool ride. He feels humiliated. As frustrated as Josh is, he throws a coin in a machine that claims to grant wishes. He wishes to be big. The next morning Josh wakes up in the body of a 30-year old man. Because nobody but his best friend Billy believes him, he decides to go to New York. He finds a simple job at a toy manufacture. Josh gets a promotion and co-worker Susan falls in love with him. Josh realized that being an adult is a lot harder than he thought.

For most people Tom Hanks became famous in the 90s, but in the 80s he showed us his comedic talent. Just look at “Splash”, “Bachelor Party”, “The Burbs” and ”Money Pit”. “Big” was probably his big break, not only because of his humor, also for his sense of drama. And Tom Hanks is constantly believable as a boy trapped in a man’s body.

What makes this such a strong film, besides the script and Tom Hanks’ performance, is that “Big” speaks to both kids and adults. For kids the film is funny and relatable. Adults will realize that you should never lose the kid inside and that adulthood is not easy. “Big” is an ode to childhood.

“Big” is a classic in the comedy genre and is filled with humor. Tom Hanks is without a doubt one of the best and most believable actors in Hollywood (to me THE best) and he proofs that in “Big”.

Rating: 5/ 5

90s Movie Review - Lost Highway

Director: David Lynch
Genre: Crime/ Thriller
Runtime: 135 minutes
Year: 1997
Starring: Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Richard Pryor, Henry Rollins, Giovanni Ribisi, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia

Description: After a bizarre encounter at a party, a jazz saxophonist (Bill Pullman) is framed for the murder of his wife (Patricia Arquette) and sent to prison, where he inexplicably morphs into a young mechanic and begins leading a new life.

Review: Fred Madison is leading a happy life with his wife Renee. One day they find a videotape on their doorstep, with shots of their house on it. A day later, they find another tape, but this time with shots from inside the house and even with Fred and David sleeping. They call the police, but they can’t do anything since there is no proof of a break-in. the tapes keep coming. On the last tape, Fred sees how his wife is being killed and later he is arrested for the murder of his wife. When he is rotting away in his cell, Fred turns into Peter Dayton. Since he isn’t the man who killed Renee, he is released.
“Lost Highway” is a post-modern film noir. And it’s a film with so much imagination, bizarre imagery, it’s vague cinema. And David Lynch is the man for it. It’s a little easier to follow then “Mulholland Dr.”, but I still wonder what goes on inside Lynch’s head.
There a people that call his work pretentious crap, but I do not agree at all. It’s cinematographic art. the atmosphere is dark and absurd and very violent. The acting is strong and the soundtrack is chilling.
“Lost Highway” is one of those films that gets you thinking and it starts conversations, like almost all of David Lynch’s movies. Everyone has a different theory and you never know what is really going on.

Rating: 4,5/ 5

80s Movie Review - An Officer and a Gentleman

Director: Taylor Hackford
Genre: Drama/ Romance
Runtime: 124 minutes
Year: 1982
Starring: Richard Gere, Debra Winger, Louis Gossett Jr. David Keith, Robert Loggia

Description: A young man (Richard Gere) must complete his work at a Navy Flight school to become an aviator, with the help of a tough gunnery sergeant (Louis Gossett Jr.) and his new girlfriend (Debra Winger).

Review: “An Officer and a Gentleman” is seen as one of the most romantic films of the 80s. the movie has so many efficient clichés, that it’s no surprise it’s so popular: the impossible love between a man in uniform and a working girl, the choice between heart and mind.
Richard Gere, who broke through two years earlier with “American Gigolo”, really rose to the top after “An Officer and a Gentleman”. And I think every woman was in love with his character Zack Mayo, especially after that scene where he picks up Paula in the factory, wearing the white uniform. Louis Gossett Jr. got an Academy Award for his role as Sgt. Emil Foley. And well deserved.
“An Officer and a Gentleman” has a lot to offer. Good acting, strong story, classic romance, drama and a good soundtrack. I can totally understand why it’s my mother’s favorite movie. It’s actually because of her that I love this movie so much too.

Rating: 5/ 5