Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-25 00:06:48

Extravagantly Whimsical and Sentimental Family Drama.

"Big Fish" has been adapted from the novel of the same name by Daniel Wallace and directed by Tim Burton. This whimsical tale of a strained parent-child relationship is Burton's most personal film to date. It's a story of a son returning to his childhood home, where his father is fatally ill, in hopes of discovering the man behind the myth that his father has always cultivated. "Big Fish" is in many ways a family drama with typical family themes, yet its otherworldly elements lend the film a distinct Burtonesque tone and appearance.Edward Bloom has been a personable man and a great storyteller all his life. His fantastic tales have been loved by all, no matter how much truth or myth they may contain. But ever since his son, Will Bloom (Billy Crudup), was old enough to realize the stories couldn't be entirely true, he has resented his father's unwillingness to say things the way they are. Estranged as adults, Will visits his dying father (Albert Finney) in hopes of learning the truth behind the magnificent tales of Edward's youth and gaining an understanding of the man he has known only through elaborate myths.Although "Big Fish" is telling us the story of Edward and Will's relationship, Edward, true to form, tells us his life's story in fantastic tales. So the film spends most of its time recounting Edward Bloom's life story as he tells it, with young Edward played with great charm by Ewan McGregor. These adventures are a visual feast and don't seem to compete with the film's present-tense father-son drama. The myth and the drama are blended seamlessly, much to Tim Burton's and screenwriter John August's credit. The faults I find with "Big Fish" are that some of its stories would have been more interesting told rather than seen, and the odd conglomeration of stories that constitute Edward's repertoire sometimes give the film an uneven pace. It goes without saying that "Big Fish" is sentimental. It most closely resembles Burton's "Edward Scissorhands" in tone.The DVD: Bonus features include two multi-part featurettes, which can also be viewed during the film by activating a feature called "Fish Tales", a trivia quiz, and an audio commentary by director Tim Burton. When activated, "Fish Tales" displays an icon on your screen during the film's playback that will take you to the relevant featurette. The first featurette, "The Character's Journey" contains three parts, each focusing primarily on one of the film's characters: the young Edward Bloom, circus ringmaster Amos Callaway, and Will Bloom. The film's cast and director Tim Burton discuss the characters in interviews. The second featurette is "The Filmmaker's Path", which has four parts. Tim Burton talks about the film's themes and inspirations. The production designer and effects coordinators discuss their role in expressing those themes. The fourth part, which is entitled "The Author's Journey" and features interviews with author Daniel Wallace and screenwriter John August, may be of interest to those who have read the book. "The Fine Points: A Trivia Quiz" is a game which allows you to view a short documentary about filming the circus scene if you answer the trivia questions. Tim Burton's audio commentary has an unusual format. It's an interview, so there is someone asking Burton specific questions as the subjects come up during the movie. This makes the commentary kind of low-key, but very informative. Burton talks about every aspect of the film, from its themes in relation to his own life to comments about the performances to technical details of filming. Subtitles are available in English and French. Dubbing is available in French. There are two unavoidable previews on the disc.

Lee Ledgerwood 2012-05-24 11:56:43

A masterful story

I didn't think I would like this, a friend of my son recommended it andI was pretty sure our tastes were totally different. I was wrong.I rented this movie on a cold, snowy, winter weekend when no othermajor releases had come out and had seen all the new movies that lookedinteresting. I watched it twice before I took it back two days laterand asked the clerk at the movie store if it was for sale, it was. Idon't buy many DVDs but this one is a keeper, a great story,interesting characters, good plot and subplot, in other words a greatmovie made for movie lovers but everyone in the family will enjoy. Ifyou have to wait for a snowy day to watch it, fine. Just make sure youwatch it.

jones-39 2012-05-24 06:41:12

A Magical, Mesmerizing and Moving Masterpiece!

The greatest movie I've ever seen! Big Fish will have you laughing,whooping, clapping and, at times, crying through a tremendous grin on yourface. It's poignant, funny, romantic, and inspirational at every turn.Big Fish is a Tim Burton film that doesn't constantly remind you it's a TimBurton film. Possessing the brilliance of Burton's ability to create puremagic, it also draws you into a very real place--your own heart. You believethese characters, you *know* these characters. Edward Bloom (young) is theeager kid we all once were--full of promise and aspiration. Edward Bloom(old) is the person we all aspire to become--loving and loved, a man wholives with no regrets...and the best darn story-teller to ever draw a breathof life. This film is splendidly written, acted and directed. A must-see foreveryone! As soon as the end credits rolled, I was ready to watch the nextshowing.

Jessie Jiang 2012-05-23 15:59:00

Moving life-story for everyone, albeit socially defected

Big Fish is a very moving story suitable for families. It is not reallyjust about one father and one family, but about most of everyone with abig heart and desire to go beyond the usual... Escapist in nature yetextremely enchanting as yet another typical "American Dream", the mythand adventure as told by the father very precisely describes one'soften untold mixed feelings about life and death, about suddenadolescent growth and the sweet sorrows of love...What weakens the film most is the over-simplification and Cold-Wardepiction of a demonetized war-time "exotic China" in which the herosuddenly becomes unnecessarily aggressive. At the same time, while thedaffodil-filled scene of love and romance is detailed and touching, theover-quick solution of another layer of the story, i.e., thewitch/girl/other-woman image, proves to be too shallow in terms ofsocial awareness. There were many allusions to American historyparticularly in the story of bank robbery and the changing role of poetwhich, if more adequately explored, could have made the film a muchgreater one, elevating itself towards many deeper-thinking Americansocial-critic dramatists and European philosophical buldungsroman.

2012-05-20 22:40:17

Hook, line and stinker

Despite its interesting premise and moments of heartwarming charm, "Big Fish" is more of a movie minnow in terms of its ability to satisfy the audience's appetite for engaging characters, enticing plot or enlightening themes. Weirdly enough, despite the big names, the biggest problem with this movie is the casting, which ranges from ludicrous (canonical New Yorkers De Vito and Buscemi as alleged Southerners, doing the worst accents ever captured on film) to merely bland (a sleepwalking Crudup and his generically French wife, plus Jessica Lange as a wooden stage prop) to earnest but utterly inapt (McGregor in the lead role) to actively irritating (Finney in the other lead role). Bonham-Carter is probably the only cast member who didn't embarrass herself. The script is also soggy, but it could have worked if the actors had made us care about the characters in the slightest; but they didn't. Basically a disappointing film that wasn't worth sitting through for the sake of a moving and well-crafted ending.

SuperCritic 2012-05-20 13:11:34

Drags on, no surprises

After the first 20 minutes of the movie you can pretty much tell how therest of the movie is going to go. The giant was the worst special effects Ihave ever seen, especially the scene when he first meets Ewen MacGregor'scharacter. The perspective was all wrong. First you see the cave entrance,and it looks just a bit taller than Ewen, so at that point you expect thegiant to be crouching or crawling when he walks out of the cave. Instead,he's standing straight up, implying he's the same height as Ewen. But thenin the following scenes he's much taller. It was very poorly done, and thatset the tone for the rest of the movie. Ewan was wrongly cast for the partI think, as he was for Moulin Rouge as well. His smile is just too cornyand his teeth aren't straight.

george.schmidt 2012-05-18 10:37:14

A winning whopper

BIG FISH (2003) **1/2 Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup,Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny De Vito,Robert Guillaume, Steve Buscemi, Matthew McGrory, Loudon WainwrightIII, Missi Pyle, Marion Cotillard, Ada Tai, Arlene Tai. Engaging yetmeandering bit of tall-tale telling envisioned by Tim Burton'sadaptation of Daniel Wallace's novel (screenplay by John August doesit's best to get the whimsy balanced with poignancy) about an estrangedson and father (Crudup and the always watchable Finney) who try tore-unite before it's too late – the dad is dying – despite the non-stopwhoppers told over the years that blend fictional fantasy into fact.Embued by a fantastic ensemble (McGregor uncannily channeling Finneyfrom his heyday in the flashback narrative and Lohman becoming Lane)and a unique production design by Dennis Gasner creating a paralleluniverse of sorts only shows the weakness of the long-windedness of thenarrative that at times creaks along in its gradual pacing whichhinders the heart of an otherwise exceptional – and this time verypersonal – take by Burton.

Doug 2012-05-17 19:28:29

Refreshing and Good

Sure, it was a bit long winded, and a little corny. But once you recognized it was going to be that way, then you could sit back and really enjoy it. I found that Edward Blooms tall tales were very engaging and looked forward to hearing more. It was also a refreshing story line - a change off of the standard beaten path of police, murder, high speed chases, or love.

Stephen Alfieri 2012-05-16 01:39:35

A Lovely, Heartwarming, Mystical Fantasy

This was the surprise of the year for me. Although I have admired andrespected Tim Burton for being able to bring his "visions" to the screen, Ihave felt disconnected from his movies due to characters (other than EdwardScissorhands) that were either uninteresting or unbelievable. With "BigFish" you get it all. Wonderful storytelling by an artful director, andwonderful fleshed out characters brought to life by some fabulousactors.From the start of the movie, you pretty much can figure out how the moviewill end. Think of a combination of "The Wizard of Oz", and "I Never SangFor My Father". Dying father, disconnected son. Son feels he doesn'treally know his father. Son is tired of hearing father's tall tales. Mothercaught in the middle. You know what's going to happen, but it's the trip onthe way to the end of the movie, that makes the movie sorewarding.So many heartwarming but never smarmy moments. The fairytale is told in atruly lyrical style. The effects and visual feel of the movie is magical.Burton and his crew have created a feast for the eyes (not to mention a tonof tongue in cheek references to other Burton films).Finney, Lange, McGregor and De Vito are all excellent.I wish this film would have done better in winning more awards at the end ofthe year. It deserved them. 9 out of 10

trixster7 2012-05-15 14:50:48

Ranges from fantastical to dull

Heartwarming tale that starts off rather awkwardly, but slowly picks upsteam until the fantastic finale, which is executed very well and issurprisingly emotional. The frame tale of the father-son relationshipis pretty weak, and slows the film down for much of it - partly due toCrudup's annoying character - but manages to evoke a sentimentalreaction by the end. The fantasy elements of the tale range frominnovative (the town) to dull (the romance), but all have Burton'ssignature touch. McGregor and Finney really carried the film, it's toobad that a large portion of it has to be focused on Crudup. Among thefemales, only Bonham Carter is memorable, as she is quite good in herdual role. There's some good supporting work from DeVito and Buscemi,and the visuals are frequently fantastic. A bit of a letdown, but stilla good flick.

2012-05-09 01:18:11

sappy and tedious

This movie is a dog. I found the flashback fantasies annoying, sappy, and boring all at the same time. The "love your father" moral is laudable, but the execution is painful at best. Don't even rent this one.

ozjeppe 2012-05-08 07:18:27

The importance of a good tale... makes a medium splash.

It's all about the importance of a good tale in people's life. We knowthis from Robert Guillaume's line near the end as he would pick thenot-so-truthful, but better-sounding version of the drama surroundingCrudup's birth. Also being the tale about an estranged father and sonrelationship, the borderline between truth and fiction to both its owncharacters and moviegoers, provides the movie magic as well as theemotional vulnerability here.With echoes of 'Forrest Gump', the ambition here is bigger than thefinal achievement, and I can sense the urge of the film-makers for alonger epic out of this story. Many bits and characters are presentedto hold great importance, but are left dangling, annoyingly unfinished,as prodigal director Burton and writer John August shifts tone,narration emphasis and focus too often to hit a bulls-eye. But as pureentertainment it's thoroughly enjoyable and eye-filling as a day at thefun-fair. And the robust performance of Albert Finney as the old EdBloom clearly outshines anybody else here, with a much more believableaccent than McGregor, too! 6 out of 10 from me.

Noel 2012-05-04 22:48:30

Uncatchable Fish.

Giants, werewolves, witches, and some rather big fish.Half of this movie is about a grown man brought up by a storytellingfather who seems to be obsessed with the fairy tales he creates. Now,with the father on his deathbed, his son feels as though he doesn'tknow him at all and so attempts to bridge the emotional gap whilerecalling the fairy tales that his father told. And this brings us tothe other half -- the fictional fairytale stories of the young EdwardBloom, who is everything from a soldier in Vietnam to a humancannonball to a bankrobber to a wealthy landowner ... he faces allkinds of fantastic creatures and people throughout his life, andbefriends all of them.The Father/Son relationship is easily one of the most over-explored inHollywood, and more often than not signals schmaltzy background music,tender moments and a lot of heartfelt talk about baseball. Bleurgh.However, "Big Fish" actually manages to try something different with atired old formula and actually pull it off superbly well. This movie isactually a lot like "Forrest Gump", what with the accents and thecomedic, fantasy retelling of a person's life -- certainly not aproject you'd associate with the Master of Darkness, Tim Burton.Contrary to what some might say, Tim Burton just doesn't make badmovies. He makes great ones, and decent ones -- usually one after theother in sequence. As his previous movie was the heavily-flawed andill-conceived "Planet of the Apes" remake, this one was due to be agreat one anyway. It doesn't necessary feel like a Tim Burton movie thewhole way through... sure, you've got those weird trees, some slantedhouses and plenty of surreal, Gothic darkness here and there, but muchof it could just as well have been a Spielberg project, particularly inthe Father/Son sequences. The main difference, though, is that Burtondoesn't pile on the Schmaltz as another director would. Even theinevitable death sequence is both abrupt and tasteful, and no longerthan it needs to be.This is another entertaining and heartfelt film from Tim Burton, atleast of the quality we expect from this great director. Everyoneshould see this movie.

2012-05-04 20:33:44

Great movie

I really enjoyed watching this movie. They don't have much in common but it reminded me of the movie "The Never Ending Story" a little. If you enjoy a great story tale of a movie then check this one out definitely!

BabersMagelica 2012-04-28 19:18:22

I'm a big fish

I'm a big Tim Burton fan, but Big Fish was a huge disappointment. All oftheactors did an amazing job, but the story was lacking in so many ways:therewasn't enough Tim Burton imagery, some of the timelines didn't make sense,the development of the father/son relationship was lacking, and I wasn'tconvinced that I should care about any of the characters. Bottom line onBigFish: yes, it's pretty because it's a Tim Burton film, but viewers are thebig fish for being lured into such disappointing movie.

TheOtherFool 2012-04-28 09:27:22

It's hard to describe what a wonder this movie is... (spoilerish)

Picture a man in his forties reading a book in his comfortable chair.He's laughing, screaming 'I love it!' and thinking: I will make thisinto a movie.This is what must have happened when Tim Burton read Daniel Wallace's'Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions'. Now, I haven't read itmyself, but if it's anything like the movie (and why wouldn't it), Ican see why Burton loved it so much he wanted to turn it into a movie.You see, Big Fish is one big fairytale. And Burton has something goingfor fairytales. Look at The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollowor Edward Scissorhands. I wouldn't even have been surprised if Edwardwould have turned up in this wild fantasy story called Big Fish, wherestories about midgets, giants, hidden towns, siamese twins and theinevitable big fish make up for one the most touching films ever to beput on screen.Ed Bloom sr. (Albert Finney) loves telling the stories about his'adventures' when he was young (Ewan McGreggor). And when he was young,Ed Bloom jr. (Billy Crudup) loved hearing them. But once you hear thesame story hundreds and hundreds of times, you're getting bored withthem. And when your dad tells them again on your wedding night, you getmad. It's what happens as these two get into a fight, not to speakagain for the next three years.It is at that time that Jr. is about to become a first-time dad whileSr. is on his deathbed, they meet again. And this time, Jr. wants hisold man to tell the truth for once and for all, instead of these lies,how amusing they might be.And they are amusing. As well as touching. Remarkable. Fantastic.Beautiful. I won't go into them too deeply, but they include giants,midget-werewolves and poets slash bankrobbers slash wall-streetmillionaires. And it are stories about the love for a one-eyed witchand, of course, those really big fish.But in the end, it's the story of the father and son, of truth, offriendship, and in the end, of love. The way Jr. 'talks' his fatherinto death is breath-taking, exhilarating, it's wonderful. The firstmovie that almost took me to tears since I saw 'Ordinary People' forthe first time about a year ago.I always wanted to say this: It may be just my very humble opinion, butI have no problem proclaiming 'Big Fish' to be the best movie of 2003.9/10.

2012-04-25 03:27:21

Slightly flawed but essentially exquisite allegory

Famed cult director Tim Burton's "Big Fish" was greeted by generally positive reviews, but some of the negative ones were scathing - dull and preachy, belabored, pretentious, long-winded, strained. So, as a Burton fan, it was with some trepidation that I saw the movie. I'm glad I did. It's got its weaknesses - some of the fantasies don't work as well as Burton had hoped they would, I suspect. But, for the most part, it does work as a delicate, almost magical allegory. It also contains some great performances, especially by Albert Finney, Jessica Lange and Helena Bonham Carter.What if, when you were a kid, your father filled your head with fantastic stories of his own youth? Stories about his encounters with a very big fish, amazing exploits in a war, encounters with a giant, his travels to a town that exists in its own space and time, etc.? And you, as a young man, with your limited imagination, could not accept your father's filling you with these stories? What if you could not relate to him because you felt his whole life was a lie? And, finally, what if you discovered that his crazy stories were not, after all, that far from what really happened? What would you do?These and other questions are what confront Will Bloom [Billy Crudup] when he returns home from New York City to the rural South where his father, Ed [Finney] lays dying. Hostile and angry, Will confronts his father. [Of great importance to the story is Will's mother [Lange], who loves Ed unconditionally and is enchanted by his wild tales. But, of course, she loves Will unconditionally as well.] As Will fights Ed, we see flashbacks of the young Ed [Ewan McGregor] living out these improbable tales in sequences of amazing visual detail. At first, Will may have the upper hand, but as we watch, it is Ed who wins the battle and our hearts. He may not have always told the truth, but it is his life, not Will's, which is the more heroic and worthwhile. Will, we learn, merely clungs to surface realities, while Ed has fully embraced the realities that lay just beyond our reach.

a75tigerman 2012-04-24 08:21:56

This film will move you

I go to the movies to be entertained and somehow, moved.I want to leave the theater thinking "wow", I got my moniesworth.A friend of mine told me that Big Fish was, "different".With that in mind, I went to see it. Well, it is a littledifferent.But its a magical different. Beautifully filmed, the film seems to go insomany different directions. Each direction is interesting.Then toward the end, the whole story comes together with just awonderfullymagical ending.I wouldn't call this an action film; nor is it a comedy, although it hasmany fun and interesting twists. I can't recall a movie in a long, longtime, that in the end had viewers both crying and applauding.Its been a couple days since I saw the film, and I am still smiling insidewhen I think about it.Go see it. I'm going again.

T Y 2012-04-22 17:43:15

Pure Cornball! Fried Green Tomatoes meets Forrest Gump

A movie in which the current story is merely the flimsiest excuse forthe backstory. From the moment the narration started, I was neverinvolved in this storyline. My friends and I were not on board foranother southern tall-tale. Is there any other kind of movie thatHollywood allows southern characters to appear in? For a hanky movie towork you do have to care about the characters. The second time AlbertFinney asks for water you'll guess what's coming.Tim Burton is getting much attention for his newfound maturity. Whatthat means is that whatever the merits of his quirky, poorly-scriptedprevious movies, he's now signed on to one of the two acceptablemessages for Hollywood dramas to have: 1) You gotta have heart. 2)Believe in the magic. Both of which are pure cornball. In this caseit's #2. Ready-made themes excuse viewers from developing or eventhinking much. If you're an adult with the mind of an eight-year-old you're in for atreat. If you're a week away from your own death, this could be theideal movie for you. Otherwise, prepare to roll your eyes and hold yournose. Just bring whatever sentimental feelings you've developed at theHallmark store and install them wholesale into this story.Is it any wonder that this is the last movie Spalding Grey watchedbefore killing himself?

Bolesroor 2012-04-22 04:05:47

Big Waste

Big Fish is a film so startlingly awful that I wonder how it ever gotmade. Tim Burton, the one-time imaginative director of such films as"Batman," "Beetlejuice," and "Edward Scissorhands," has evidently lostwhatever talent he once had. After this and his mind-numbing "Planet ofthe Apes" remake, I strongly urge Mr. Burton to retire, or at leasttake a LONG vacation.Albert Finney stars as Edward Bloom, a dying man with a lifetime'sworth of tall tales. Billy Crudup is his son attempting to separate thefact from the fiction. Unfortunately this involves long, pointless,confusing flashback/fable sequences starring Ewan McGregor (with theworld's worst "Southern" accent) as a young Ed Bloom. The result is amess of a movie that is neither entertaining nor enlightening, notfunny or dramatic, not even bold enough to leave you with a lastingimpression.The direction is so derivative of other popular films/styles it isembarrassing to watch. There are changing-era soundtrack songs as wemove through the years, including Buddy Holly's "Everyday" (used firstand more effectively in Rob Reiner's "Stand By Me"), Elvis Presley's"All Shook Up" (used in countless films including "Honeymoon In Vegas")and the astoundingly trite "Ramblin' Man" by the Allman Brothers, usedtoo often to name. As the years go by and the jukebox plays one cannothelp but be reminded of the similarities to Robert Zemeckis' "ForrestGump." And of course there are the obligatory Matrix-styled specialeffects- used absolutely unnecessarily- in which time freezes (!)During attempted comedic sequences one gets the feeling that Burton hasbeen influenced by the Coen Brother's "O Brother, Where Art Thou."Despite a handful of moments obviously intended to be funny I heard fewlaughs in the packed theater, and never laughed myself.Then there are the tall tales themselves... clichéd, predictable andoddly flat. Meeting a giant and seeing a vision of your own death soundexciting on paper but these moments are rendered meaningless in thefilm. Wasted are such great actors as Jessica Lange, Danny DeVito,Helena Bonham Carter and Steve Buscemi.My advice to anyone reading this review is to avoid the film at allcosts, because I can guarantee you will be disappointed. See anothermovie, rent a classic or even an old favorite... do anything but wastetwo hours on this cinematic dead-end. Big Fish is a dull, derivative,uninspired effort from a director who once had the ability to shock,excite and entertain me. Now he only puts me to sleep.GRADE: FEDIT: This movie was so depressing it drained the life out of me. Now,years later, it has come to light that the film may actually havecontributed to the death of Spalding Gray. He left the theater, senthis family home, and committed suicide by jumping off the Staten IslandFerry. Look it up if you don't believe me... that's the kind of karmathis movie has. Enough said.