Big Fish (2004)

A Fairy Tale for Adults

"Big Fish" may be Tim Burton's best film. At the very least, it's his most underrated. Everyone always talks about his concept work/production on The Nightmare Before Christmas and his older work, but I'd argue that this is a more solid film than those. Instead of comparing, though, I'll just talk about what makes this movie so great.

The basic plot is this: Edward Blood was never the best father, especially through his son's eyes. He'd always tell patently false tales about his life, often hogging the attention with his fantastic stories. Now, as he gets closer and closer to death, he recounts his stories to his son and his new daughter in law, in hopes that his son will finally come to know who he truly is. This sort of story was perfect for Tim Burton, because he gets to finally flex his creative muscle and pull it in multiple ways, since the "telling stories" parts of this movie make this more like an anthology than a straight film. Burton's over-the-top style often seems like it is just TOO much in some of his films, but his direction was perfect for this movie.

It's a whimsical, heart-breaking, fantastic fairy tale for adults. Not in the dark way that people often assume "for adults" means, but what I mean is that the themes in the story are very much about growing up, what it means to be a man, and the pain and joy and terror of getting old. A lot of it is silly, but certainly in a good way. This film is funny, quirky, weird, beautiful, tragic, and hopeful--much like life itself.

9/10 September 28, 2008

Very touching....

When I first heard of this movie I expected something crazy and dark (coming from Tim Burton previous movies). I was wonderfully impressed but how meaningful this movie is. Tim Burton taps into the common problem with children and their parents not understanding each other. He beautifully shows how the son of a very imaginative man, doesn't not have a good relationship with his father because he doesn't believe his father's tales of his life. Unfortunately, his father is dying and he goes to see him before he dies. I don't want to give too much of the movie out because i think it is too beautiful to give away. However it is not a easy movie to understand for some you have to look at the detail of the plot to really grasp it. Open your mind and you will not be dissatisfied. September 24, 2008

Good, but could've been more

Tim Burton is such a predictable director of films that even when, on the surface, he seems to be stretching himself, he's actually merely distorting art towards his own relentlessly immature aesthetic. In a sense he's the dark filmic counterpoint to Steven Spielberg's gauzey light pabulum. Neither has a fundamental grasp of what it is to be human, nor the essence of a good tale. Quirkiness does not equal interesting. If you doubt that you must find Tourette's sufferers fascinating rather than annoying.
Big Fish is TB's attempt to do `adult' drama, yet it so desperately tries to rip off the best in other films- even less successful ones like Forrest Gump, a tale similarly set in Alabama. Along with that film's everyman-ness Big Fish tries to channel the warmth of My Dog Skip, the father-son dynamic of October Sky, & the rites of passage feel of Stand By Me. While it does not succeed as well as the aforementioned trio this is a good movie. Yet, dammit, with another director this could have been a great movie, certainly alot better than Burton's previous bests- the flawed but interesting Ed Wood and Planet Of The Apes. Instead, it's maybe just a little better. It's like when you see the goddess of your dreams but she turns out to be an Anti-Semite, smoker, or lesbian.
Let me remove myself from despair & give you the capsule tale: an old talespinner- Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is dying and his son, Will (Billy Crudup), wants to know the reality behind the stories that so charm everyone else- including Ed's wife Sandra (Jessica Lange) and Will's wife Josephine (Marion Cotillard). The last few days of Ed's life give way to flashbacks and fantasies. The young Ed (Ewan McGregor) has all sorts of adventures: he meets a giant named Karl (Matthew McGrory), discovers a Utopian town called Spectre, befriends a witch, catches an elusive legendary big fish, and joins a circus run by a werewolf named Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito). He joins the circus to get information on the girl of his dreams- the young Sandra (Alison Lohman) who's engaged to his childhood nemesis. Later, he becomes a military spy and rescues a pair of gorgeous Chinese Siamese twins named Ping and Jing from the Red Army.... Still, this is overall a good film- there is a wonderful sequence where young Ed 1st sees Sandra and time stops. He walks through hoops and juggler's balls fall to the ground as he walks by. This is a great sequence because it does simulate that feeling, but we've seen the time-stop before. What makes the scene a winner is that, to compensate for that momentary sensation, time has to speed up. Doing so causes Ed his opportunity to meet and woo Sandra for a few years.
This is truly unique, but- alack- the only instance of using fantasy to serve a narrative purpose, and not just be `ooh-ah' fantastical! That TB only does this once in the film confirms it was a happy accident, not an understood exercise of filmic control. Still, the acting of Finney and McGregor is superb, as are the other supporting performances.
September 8, 2008

Great UNDER rated movie.

This was very under-rated. Performances and story are great. SHould have been an acad nominee. August 21, 2008

This is a keeper

This is a wonderful story, already well-described by other reviewers. It is simply a fun movie to watch, and one that you can go back to and watch again. I disagree with one reviewer who said that it is not for children. I think children over 12 would easily understand and enjoy the movie. August 8, 2008

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