You're a Big Boy Now (1966)

78% of critics liked it
(9 reviews)
50% of users liked it
(388 ratings)

This cult favorite began as Francis Ford Coppola's UCLA thesis, ending up with a professional cast and nationwide release. Teen Peter Kastner undergoes his coming-of-age rites when, urged on by dad Rip Torn, he strikes out on own and moves to NYC. Every person Kastner meets is an eccentric's… More This cult favorite began as Francis Ford Coppola's UCLA thesis, ending up with a professional cast and nationwide release. Teen Peter Kastner undergoes his coming-of-age rites when, urged on by dad Rip Torn, he strikes out on own and moves to NYC. Every person Kastner meets is an eccentric's eccentric, from landlady Julie Harris to cop Dolph Sweet. Kastner's new friend Tony Bill, who works at the New York Public Library and accumulates pornography on side, introduces the boy to sex and drugs. Our hero truly matriculates to manhood after his heart is broken by disco dancer Elizabeth Hartman; he settles instead for Karen Black, still enough of an unknown quantity in 1966 to play against type as "the right girl". Adapted from a novel by David Benedictus, Big Boy is afflicted with usual youthful film-class fervor, crammed full of showoffish cinematic tricks that Coppola would eventually outgrow. But one can't deny that this seminal production is both heartfelt and energetic. To improve the film's saleability, distributors Seven Arts tacked on a music score by the Lovin' Spoonful, hardly necessary but very enjoyable appendange. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.
Directed By: Francis Ford Coppola
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Dec 9, 1966 Wide

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Francis Coppola has drawn topflight performances from his talented cast.
Bosley Crowther, New York Times
A magnetically exasperating comic strip of a movie.
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
Coppola has fun directing, and his film is filled with sight jokes, high-spirited performances and a lively sound track by the Lovin' Spoonful.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Significant as an early example of the developing talent of one of the most important (if not the most important) American directors of the 1970s.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Coppola's style had healthy roots in the screwball comedies of the '30s, and the glorious performances litter the film with moments to treasure.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
What elevates Coppola's coming-of-age comedy above the routine is the great supporting cast, headed by Geraldine Page in an Oscar-nominated turn as the smothering mom, Julie Harris, Rip Torn and others.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Really nifty coming-of-age story from the young Coppola.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An uneven effort that has both its funny and dull moments, but has since remained popular as a cult favorite.
, Film4
Coppola's spaced-out sex comedy is a cross between The Graduate and Funny Face, drunk on its own kooky excesses.