★ 2 / 10
Calaboss
Right up front, one thing that really stands out when you first look at the IMDb page for Big Baby is that it hasn't been rated by the MPAA. Usually, the only…
Right up front, one thing that really stands out when you first look at the IMDb page for Big Baby is that it hasn't been rated by the MPAA. Usually, the only reason this happens is that a movie that's expected to get an X rating is simply not submitted because an X rating generally means death at the box office. That is not the case with Big Baby. This movie is not rated G. It's simply not rated. This is quite obviously a film that the entire family can safely watch, provided your family likes movies that aren't particularly good. To be fair, kids have the ability to like just about anything, so they may think this movie is fine. For them, there is really no difference in quality between The Wizard of Oz and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, but adults notice the difference right away. I think the reason it wasn't rated is because they either couldn't, or wouldn't pony up the $2500 to get it rated.Out of all the actors in this, the only one I recognized was Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the Brady Bunch. First time I've seen her on-screen since an episode of Scrubs, and she doesn't have much more than a cameo role here. Even though she's the top-listed star, she only has about 3 minutes of screen time. I checked, and the other actors had plenty of TV and movie credits, but in movies or TV shows that I have never seen. Andrew Lawrence, who plays the big baby of the title, has kind of a Brendan Fraser thing going on, but it's not enough to overcome the deficiencies in the script and movie direction. There is another actor whose performance you will recognize, while perhaps not knowing his name, Ken Davitian. And when I say he is a discount Danny DeVito, you will know exactly what I am talking about when you see him show up in Big Baby.The writer and director of this film is Stephen Langford. If you are wondering about some of the other scripts he's written, well, there's Helliversity, Club Dead, Dude, Where's My Dog?, and one episode of Saved by the Bell, among other things. So, he's got all of that on his resumé. The movie is silly, contrived, and overblown. And despite the fact that Big Baby has plenty of obvious padding to try and flesh out a too short screenplay, the movie still only comes in at 82 minutes long, which, honestly, kinda works in its favor. You certainly wouldn't want 2 hours of this. Frankly, this just looks like a poor remake of Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, only without the known actors and $40,000,000 budget.This movie is something you might be willing to put up with, if you're watching with a child. It is not the kind of movie an adult would watch on their own, or with adult friends. I mean, you know, unless you are a really unusual adult. It would be like popping in a DVD of Bob the Builder at a cocktail party.Oddly, though this movie has been out for 5 years, and its Youtube version has been viewed over 3.2 million times, no one has yet submitted an IMDb review. So, I'm taking the time. The comments on the YT version seem to be generally favorable, so take my rating of 2 out of 10 with a grain of salt. But if you're going to watch this, just know going in that this is not a classic masterpiece like Dude, Where's My Dog?
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★ 2 / 10
Big Baby Is A Big Disappointment
Calaboss
Right up front, one thing that really stands out when you first look at the IMDb page for Big Baby is that it hasn't been rated by the MPAA. Usually, the only…
Right up front, one thing that really stands out when you first look at the IMDb page for Big Baby is that it hasn't been rated by the MPAA. Usually, the only reason this happens is that a movie that's expected to get an X rating is simply not submitted because an X rating generally means death at the box office. That is not the case with Big Baby. This movie is not rated G. It's simply not rated. This is quite obviously a film that the entire family can safely watch, provided your family likes movies that aren't particularly good. To be fair, kids have the ability to like just about anything, so they may think this movie is fine. For them, there is really no difference in quality between The Wizard of Oz and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, but adults notice the difference right away. I think the reason it wasn't rated is because they either couldn't, or wouldn't pony up the $2500 to get it rated.Out of all the actors in this, the only one I recognized was Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the Brady Bunch. First time I've seen her on-screen since an episode of Scrubs, and she doesn't have much more than a cameo role here. Even though she's the top-listed star, she only has about 3 minutes of screen time. I checked, and the other actors had plenty of TV and movie credits, but in movies or TV shows that I have never seen. Andrew Lawrence, who plays the big baby of the title, has kind of a Brendan Fraser thing going on, but it's not enough to overcome the deficiencies in the script and movie direction. There is another actor whose performance you will recognize, while perhaps not knowing his name, Ken Davitian. And when I say he is a discount Danny DeVito, you will know exactly what I am talking about when you see him show up in Big Baby.The writer and director of this film is Stephen Langford. If you are wondering about some of the other scripts he's written, well, there's Helliversity, Club Dead, Dude, Where's My Dog?, and one episode of Saved by the Bell, among other things. So, he's got all of that on his resumé. The movie is silly, contrived, and overblown. And despite the fact that Big Baby has plenty of obvious padding to try and flesh out a too short screenplay, the movie still only comes in at 82 minutes long, which, honestly, kinda works in its favor. You certainly wouldn't want 2 hours of this. Frankly, this just looks like a poor remake of Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, only without the known actors and $40,000,000 budget.This movie is something you might be willing to put up with, if you're watching with a child. It is not the kind of movie an adult would watch on their own, or with adult friends. I mean, you know, unless you are a really unusual adult. It would be like popping in a DVD of Bob the Builder at a cocktail party.Oddly, though this movie has been out for 5 years, and its Youtube version has been viewed over 3.2 million times, no one has yet submitted an IMDb review. So, I'm taking the time. The comments on the YT version seem to be generally favorable, so take my rating of 2 out of 10 with a grain of salt. But if you're going to watch this, just know going in that this is not a classic masterpiece like Dude, Where's My Dog?
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80%
AUDIENCE
4.5/10
122
