Overall Rating
  Awesome: 49.4%
Worth A Look: 39.16%
Just Average: 7.83%
Pretty Crappy: 1.81%
Sucks: 1.81%
11 reviews, 100 user ratings
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| Big Fish |
by John Rice
"Possibly Tim Burton's best yet."
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I've never considered myself particularly a fan of Director Tim Burton and lately I'm beginning to wonder why. There is no doubt he has both courage and a truly original vision. Many of his films (let's just forget about the whole Batman phase, can we?) such as Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice are virtual icons of recent American film. He consistently lands some of the most admirable actors working today, such as Johnny Depp, Dianne Weist, Glenn Close, Billy Crudup, Alison Lohman, Albert Finney, and the list goes on. Plus, let's face it, his movies are fun.Burton's latest is Big Fish, the story of a young man about to have his first child, trying almost desperately to understand the dying father he has grown to resent, and in fact hasn't spoken to for 3 years. Burton pretty much pulls out all the stops here, as he blurs the line between fantasy and reality in a way he never has before.
William Bloom (Billy Crudup) is a pragmatic young man whose strained relationship with his father Edward (played by Ewan McGregor as a young man and Albert Finney as an elderly man) has caused them not to speak since William's wedding three years earlier. William's wife is now 7 months pregnant and Edward is critically ill, forcing the two to finally face each other.
William's resentment toward his father stems from Edward's knack for weaving his own life into fantastic stories, always causing him to be the center of attention, even on William's wedding day. At various points in the film, William says of his father, "He's never told me a single true thing" and of his father's life, "It doesn't make any sense, and most of it never happened." William is now intent on finding the "truth" of his father's mysterious life.
Big Fish jumps back and forth between the current day and Edward's life growing up, progressing through young adulthood, at least as he tells it in his stories. As a young boy, he has the courage to face the town witch and learns where, when and how he will die. He starts to grow so fast, he is bed ridden for three years. Eventually, he decides it is not he who is growing too fast, but the town he lives in which is too small. He befriends a giant, discovers a strange town resembling the afterlife and works in a circus. While at the circus, he sees a young woman named Sandra (Alison Lohman, later played by Jessica Lange) and falls in love with her instantly. His quest now becomes to find out who she is so he can marry her. If all this seems like a lot, I'm barely scratching the surface.
I'm also not sure I've ever seen a movie with so much symbolism and so many allusions. There is the Robert Frost poem "The Road Not Taken." Visual references to artist Diane Arbus. Bits of Greek mythology. There absolutely has to be some Homer (the author of The Odyssey, not Simpson) in there. The Garden of Eden. Noah's Ark. The list is almost endless. There is also the all too common, momentary lack of focus heading into the final act. In this case, it involves a feeble attempt at a Coen Brothers style bit of odd humor, ironically involving Coen regular Steve Buscemi. Fortunately, the film quickly gets back on track, giving a few surprising revelations as it heads toward what is the only ending it could possibly have. Depending on the viewer, this ending will either be handled with warmth and compassion or with almost unbearable sentimentality. Personally, I thought it worked quite well.
Big Fish has raised Tim Burton's stock a few notches in my eyes. As I said at the beginning, I'm not sure why I haven't held him in higher regard all along. His unique style is truly refreshing in what can often be a stifled film industry. It is pleasant to see someone who makes films as unusual as his continue to get funding, creative freedom and have decent success at the box office.
What probably surprised me most about Big Fish is how moving it ended up being. As the 2 hours passed, I found myself becoming completely wrapped up in every single character, other than Steve Buscemi's poet Norther Winslow. Not to imply anything against Buscemi, who has proven himself over and over to be a reliable and particularly talented actor. Winslow is a character who may have had more meaning at one point in the development process, but somehow got lost in the end. How Big Fish succeeds is in steering all its characters through a complex series of events, some real and others fantasy, and coming to its conclusion without completely collapsing under the weight of its own absurdity. I'm not sure how many other directors could have accomplished this feat.
I was also surprised by the many thoughts going through my mind as I watched Big Fish. For example, Edward's pre knowledge of his death. What if you knew when and how you would die? What would you do with that knowledge.? How Edward uses it is genuinely interesting. Beyond that, does he actually know how and when he will die? I also thought about the concept of "growing up." Typically, people tend to lose the ability to believe in the fantastic as they grow up. This is understood to be a sign of maturity, or is it actually a fear of losing control of everything around you? Is it possible that belief in the outrageous, as Edward possesses, could actually be more mature?
I can't write about Big Fish without mentioning the fine cast, which is a virtual list of many of my personal favorites. Ewan McGregor is quickly proving his ability in many varied roles. Albert Finney has been a favorite since his charasmatic role as Leo in the Coen Brothers' Miller's Crossing. Billy Crudup has built a particularly respectable reputation by consistently choosing fine roles and delivering subtle performances. I have seen Jessica Lange in a completely different light since her outstanding performance in Julie Taymor's Shakespearean adaptation Titus in 2000. Helena Bonham Carter has built a staggering range of performances from A Room with a View to the radically different Fight Club. I could go one with appearances from people like Danny DeVito, Steve Buscemi and even quirky singer/songwriter Louden Wainright III. Finally, I can't overlook Alison Lohman, who completely floored me with her subtle, powerful performance in White Oleander. Lohman is one of a handful of the most exciting film talents to come along in the last 10 years. While her role here is not a particularly difficult one, it is quite critical and she handles it with her usual understated charm. (This review originally appeared on Slacker-Reviews.com)Not exactly finely tuned, but Burton earns the right to excuse the mistakes he does make.
link directly to this review at https://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/review.php?movie=8377&reviewer=373
originally posted: 08/05/04 20:31:36
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OFFICIAL SELECTION: 2004 Palm Springs Film Festival. For more in the 2004 Palm Springs Film Festival series, click here.
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USA
10-Dec-2003 (PG-13)
DVD: 08-Nov-2005
UK
N/A
Australia
05-Feb-2004
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