Headscratchers / Big

• Am I the only one who thinks Josh's literal Manchild tendencies are a tad exaggerated? 12-13 is when kids start getting significantly hormonal and different, yet Josh's mannerisms are like those of a fourth-grader.
  • They're a little exaggerated maybe, but Josh was still decidedly more on the childish side of things even before the wish, while Billy is the one acting more like a teenager. Not all children suddenly turn into raging bundles of hormones and rebellion the second they hit 13 - some become that even earlier, some don't until their midteens. It's all dependent on when puberty is due to hit any specific child and Josh may well be a somewhat late bloomer in that regard. Also, on the out-of-universe side of things, Penny Marshall did have the actor playing Young Josh go through a lot of the scenes specifically so that Tom Hanks could watch and replicate an actual child's mannerisms and inflections.
• So, Josh's mother thinks that her son has been kidnapped by a guy who claims that he is her son (as far as she knows). So how come she doesn't call the police when he calls her from work? Even in 1988, it was possible to track calls to their source.
  • Because he only called her once and has been writing to her instead. Also, in 1988 the police probably would only be able to track the call while he's calling.
• Why does Josh's mother react in such an extreme way when she sees (adult) Josh in front of her while vacuuming? Sure, seeing a random person walking into your house is odd and a little concerning, but she instantly starts screaming and panicking at the mere sight of him. She doesn't even know he's Josh, and he wasn't attempting to harm her. She also isn't aware that Josh is gone yet.
  • It's more than just a random person walking into your house (and I'm willing to bet that that would be enough cause for alarm for most people). As far as she's concerned, Josh leaves for school and then an indeterminate amount of time later, a strange man dressed in shabby clothes bursts into her house, generally behaves in a way not typical of a grown man in his 30s, calls her "mom", keeps saying her son's name, chases her through the house and ends up pulling down his pants and showing her his ass in her son's underwear. Clearly, her immediate thought was that this was just some complete and utter weirdo who had probably snatched Josh while on his way to school and parental fears instantly kicked in. Plus, it seems like they live in a relatively decent neighbourhood so this would be the kind of thing that just wouldn't normally happen which also means she was unequipped to deal with it.