Big Fish
The Plot:
Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) has always been a teller of tall-tales about his oversized life as a young man (Ewan McGregor), when his wanderlust led him on an unlikely journey from a small-town in Alabama, around the world, and back again. His mythic exploits dart from the delightful to the delirious as he weaves epic tales about giants, a witch and conjoined-twin lounge singers. With his larger-than-life stories, Bloom charms almost everyone he encounters except for his estranged son Will (Billy Crudup). When his mother Sandra (Jessica Lange) tries to reunite them, Will must learn how to separate fact from fiction as he comes to terms with his father's great feats and great failings.
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by Big Pun)
Hitting your local video store shelves today is the latest Tim Burton flick, Big Fish….A quirky, feel good tale about a father and son….I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of this DVD last night thanks to my local Blockbuster hookup…..
Fans of Burton, and you can count me in as one, have grown accustomed to a certain feel when watching one of his movies….chances are your going to see something bold, often bright and guaranteed it will be a little off the wall….Let’s look at some of his previous work…many of us got introduced to Burton at a young age with a classic…Pee Wee’s Big Adventure (still kills me every time I watch it)….How about Edward Scissorhands….or Beetlejuice….or Mars Attacks!...or Sleepy Hollow….or the wonderful Nightmare before Christmas, which he did not direct but produced….All wonderful movies…all wild and quirky (there is that word again)….all beautifully shot….all wonderfully scored by Danny Elfman….and all full of magic, which to me is what going to the movies is all about….
With Burton’s latest installment, we get more of the same….I am just sorry I missed this on the big screen. See, Big Fish was that one movie this winter that I just kept saying, “We’ll see it next week”…and I never did….I actually think I set out on 2 or 3 occasions to go see it and wound up seeing something else once I got to the theatre. Well, upon viewing on DVD last night, boy did I screw that one up….Big Fish is the wonderful tale of Edward Bloom, a man who lived a life chock full of wacky wild adventures that took him from a small town in Alabama to what seems like the far reaches of the world and back again….and Bloom, himself, is larger than life, spinning his tales of adventure, love and life to anyone who will listen….You get the feeling very early on that Bloom is the center of attention, right where he wants to be and everyone just eats it up….everyone that is except the one person who may matter most…his son….See this film, at its core, is a love story between father and son….and it is well crafted by Burton and his writers. We see that Will has lost his relationship with his dad because he has lost faith in his father and his life tales…he sees his dad as nothing more than one tall tale after another, feeling that he has never really known the man he calls Dad…but now, as Edward nears the end of his life, father and son struggle to find that bond that they lost and Will is looking for something, anything, that can show him who his Dad really is….
Why this movie and story worked for me is simple…in one way or another, every man has that same kind of relationship with their father….when we are small, our Dad’s are invincible…they are the strongest, biggest super heroes on the planet….and as we grow older, that relationship and those ideals tend to change…We see that our fathers are human, they struggle, they hurt, they have faults, big or small….and somewhere along the way, your relationship with your Dad tends to change, sometimes more drastic than others…we always know a friend who hasn’t talked their dad for X number of years because of some silly reason…or we tend to stop telling Dad that we love him, or he doesn’t tell us….sometimes we resent our fathers, for not being all that we envision them to be…sometimes you dad becomes your best friend….but one way or another, fathers and sons develop a unique bond that takes different forms through out life….just wait, as you get older, you’ll see what I mean….
I loved seeing Edward move through life in this movie ….the relationships he made on his journeys….the relationship with his son Will…telling him bedtime stories as a child, where Will sits on every word….to Will’s wedding, where Dad’s storytelling sends him over the edge….to when Will comes to the realization that all his father told him in life isn’t just some big lie….
And Edward’s life is quite the journey…Burton does great work showing us Edward’s climb to greatness… in the Town of Specter …his time in the circus….finding his one true love…serving his country in the war…life as a door to door salesman…and his return to Specter….Wow, what a trip it is….
This movie is filled with beautiful images, lots of great sets and locations that bring the film to life…the photography is done perfectly, it is at times a visually stunning movie…the circus scene when time stops is amazing and my favorite moment in the film…the costumes, right on the mark…and the music is great….Elfman’s score is fitting and moving and the soundtrack will be mine with the likes of Elvis, The Allman Brothers and a brand new song by Pearl Jam….
The casting is excellent…Albert Finney and Ewen McGregor do a stellar job as the elder and young Bloom…Billy Crudup is very convincing as the torn son Will….Jessica Lange is beautiful and well cast as the roll or Sandra….Helena Bonham Carter takes on dual rolls in the movie, as the Witch and as Jenny…Danny DeVito is kick ass as the circus ring master…and yet another stellar performance by Mr. Steve Buscemi….
I do have a few issues with the movie….just a few…the pacing does seem off at times…and often, I think we are left to consider the images on screen and try to develop the symbolism between Edwards tales and his real life….too much thinking having to be done on my end in this case…and there may be one too many of Edward’s tales…you do begin to feel like Will does after a while, that this guy is soooo full of crap, nothing he says could possibly be true….but Burton does a nice job of making me forget those feelings by the end of his tale….
As for DVD extras…there is a commentary by the director as well as seven different featurettes….In all, the featurettes add up to about an 1 hour “Making Of” piece…good, but not great…there is also a trivia game based on Burton’s life work and some previews.
Overall, I would rate this film a 4 out of 5 stars...very, very solid rental….get out there and check it out….
Starring: Ewan McGregor,
Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Danny DeVito
Directed by: Tim Burton
Rated PG-13