You should know the story by now - a lonely kid dreams of skipping forward to adulthood, gets his wish and finds out it's not all he thought it would be. It's a super-simple, overdone formula that somehow works marvelously in spite of its shortcomings. As an audience, we're asked to sweep a lot under the rug while the plot runs its course, but because the production has so much heart, passion and genuine innocence, it's bafflingly easy to let go and enjoy the ride.

Tom Hanks is to thank for a great big chunk of that, precisely nailing the mannerisms, facial ticks and naivete of a six-foot child playing in a grown-up's world. It's a major step forward for his career, which had been quagmired in slapstick and melodrama up to this point, and he runs away with the opportunity. The story is sweet, silly and earnest, fun as a fish-out-of-water comedy but also loaded with an armload of deeper meanings - a great reminder of how silly we act throughout our lives, both as children and as adults.

It's impossible not to smile when Hanks and Robert Loggia play a duet on that giant Macy's foot-piano, even if the scene's been played to death ever since. Really, really good stuff that stands the test of time.