Big

An acting analysis

Drama Studies II

Amarilla

2000410093

Josh is a twelve years old boy that grow big in one night, because Zoltar (the game in a carnival) grant his wish to be big. While Josh wanted to be big, just because he wanted to play a huge roller coaster, to impress a girl named Cynthia. Even Josh has appearance and voice of thirty years old man (which is Josh consider as the way he looks when he is thirty) but the fact in the movie that Josh turn into a thirty years old man appearance in one night only, indicate that Josh is actually still a twelve years old boy. The way of Josh thinking, the feeling, and the movements still belong to a twelve years old Josh.

In this movie, Tom Hanks, who suppose to act, as twelve years old boy that trapped in a body of thirty years old man, do not play his part in a good way. I may say that Hanks failed in becoming a twelve years old boy. Some of the parts do not seem real and inconsistence with the real 12 years old boy acting (little Josh when he has not changed into a big man).

We can see this inconsistence since the beginning of the movie, for instance the way of Josh sitting, at the beginning of the movie. Little Josh have a natural way of sitting of a twelve years old boy who is not bossy, not too famous in school, in short an ordinary twelve years old boy, that loved, and well cared by his family. But when Josh already become a big man, the big man sits like a sissy. At the beginning of the movie, little Josh like to talk with himself as if he is a sport commentator in TV, while doing things, but later (when he turns big) there’s not a single act that shows this habit of Josh.

The next thing that I consider inconsistence is in Mr. Hank’s own acting. At the beginning of big Josh part, Josh speech is still tolerable as a confused and surprised twelve years old boy. But in some parts of the movie, big Josh seems too childish for a twelve years old boy. A twelve years old boy, that already have interest to a certain girl, would not play war (and make him looks totally silly) in a toy store with someone that he just met there, like an eight or nine years old boy. In addition, at the beginning of the movie, Josh indicated as a shy boy that cannot reply a greeting from a girl. I think a shy twelve years old boy would not play war in an open public toy store, as if he is doing it in his own back yard.

In the middle of the movie, big Josh met a woman. At the first time he did not showed any sexual interest to the woman. Even when one of the employee in the office where Josh work, pointed another woman that is famous in that office because she is willing to have sex with everybody, big Josh said that he should stay far from the woman. This speech indicates that Josh, as twelve years old boy has not really pay attentions in sex matters. But later, Josh finally have sex with a woman named Susan, with almost no reason at all (Susan do not really seducing her to do that, so it seems that Josh is already understand and has sexual interest to Susan). the most interesting things in this case is, it seems that there is nothing wrong with Josh after having sex with Susan. In fact, he does it more than once with Susan. The longest total time of Josh being a big person is about two months. This development in twelve years old boy is too fast.

In short, this kind of interpretations did by Mr. Hank, which makes me consider that he failed in becoming a twelve years-old-boy in this movie.