Synopsis:
A 13-year-old boy named Josh wants, more than anything else, to be "big". And when he makes a wish on a carnival wishing booth his dreams come true: he transposes into the body of a 35 year old man -- though his mind and spirit remain that of a child. Since he can't really go to school looking like an adult, and his mother doesn't know him in his new guise, he heads to New York with his pal Billy, where they proceed to goof off, play around, and act basically like the kids they are. But when Billy leaves, Josh is subjected to the encroaching needs and responsibilities of adulthood, and he quickly discovers both the pleasures and the problems of being grown-up.

Notes:
Shot in DuArt color, release prints processed by DeLuxe. Location shooting was done in Cliffside Park and Fort Lee, New Jersey; New York City and Rye, New York. Saul Bass designed the titles. Estimated budget $20 million. One of four films released between 1987 and 1988 that have a child/adult role-reversal theme. The other three are: "Vice Versa" (Brian Gilbert, USA, 1988); "18 Again!" (Paul Flaherty, USA, 1988); and "Like Father, Like Son" (Rod Daniel, USA, 1987). Previous to this mini-explosion in the late 1980s, there were several other titles that also dealt with the same basic theme. They include the original "Vice Versa" (Peter Ustinov, UK, 1948), which is among the first such films, and "Freaky Friday" (Gary Nelson, USA, 1977) which differs from the rest in that it focuses on a mother/daughter switch.

Reviews:
"...Buoyant summer comedy....Hanks is an absolute delight..." - 06/03/1988 New York Times, p.C8

"...Funny, warm, sophisticated and above all, imaginative, from start to finish..." - 06/03/1988 Los Angeles Times, p.C1

"Tom Hanks accomplishes something quite special here....He convinces you that he really is a 12-year-old-trapped in a body 20 years older..." - 03/24/1989 USA Today, p.3D