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| Big Fish 7 of 10 |
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| Directed by Tim Burton Cinematography by Philippe Rousselot Ewan McGregor Albert Finney Billy Crudup Jessica Lange Helena Bonham Carter Alison Lohman Steve Buscemi Danny DeVito |
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| There is something magical about film. And there is something magical about fairy tales. But for some reason, the combination of the two is usually pretty unmagical. (I will make exception for most of Disney�s animated fare.) Most directors end up with something like Legend, or Krull, or Dark Crystal. They all seem to misfire in a fairly profound way. Tim Burton, however, is an exception. And nowhere is that more apparent than in his latest work, Big Fish. The story is a truly difficult one to adapt, but John August does a masterful job on the screenplay, and Burton captures it perfectly. The performances he retrieves from the cast are excellent. McGregor in particular is very good; there is something amazingly magnetic about his character. Finney is solid, if a bit formulaic. And Cruddup is also excellent. The ladies perform admirably, even if they are somewhat forgettable. But the real stars of the film are Burton�s extravagant visual style (which is truly unique), and his magical, fairy-tale sensibility � (which brings warmth and charm to a very strange story). And the finale is wonderful, even it a tad contrived. I started to feel that it ran a bit long, though. There was a fine stopping place about 5 minutes before it actually ended. Burton would have been better off stopping there. All in all, a great reminder and wonderful example of the magic possible in filmmaking. "There comes a point when any reasonable man will swallow his pride and admit he made a mistake. The truth is, I was never a reasonable man." |
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