Big Fish
Cast
Ewan McGregor .... Young Ed Bloom
Albert Finney .... Senior Ed Bloom
Billy Crudup .... Will Bloom
Jessica Lange .... Senior Sandra Bloom
Alison Lohman .... Young Sandra Bloom
Directed by
Tim Burton
Rater #2 has description and review.
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
8/10. Weird in movies is good. There's different types of weird, but it
mainly boils down to two types: Tim Burton weird and David Lynch
weird. Both are pretty similar, actually, except that Burton has a
reason for his weirdness, while Lynch just throws it out there. I
enjoy Lynch's more, but Burton's is nice to look at, and instead of
creating a puzzle that seems impossible to solve, Burton creates new
worlds, stuff that can never happen but is just close enough to seem
believable. In his new Big Fish, Burton likes to get as weird as he
can get, but has to stay within the boundaries of mainstream movies
(I'll get to that).
Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is notorious for telling tall tales,
which delight most people, but always seemed to annoy his son Will
(Billy Crudup). He's upset because he doesn't really know much about
his father. When he learns that his father is dying, he travels back
to his home in Alabama, while the audience sees some of Edward's tall
tales, with Ewan McGregor as the younger Ed. There, he encounters
giants, werewolves, a town that seems to be taken out of something
from the Twilight Zone, and a witch with a glass eye.
Burton certainly is imaginative. He has some great ideas for
weirdness, which are all executed extremely well. Everything comes
off well, and Burton leaves us in some weird place, and we seem to
just accept it. The movie thrives on leaving the audience wondering
what was about what they just saw. Unlike Lynch, Burton doesn't
require us to make connections; he explains it all. But that's where
the one major flaw comes in. All of the weirdness is so well done
that when the necessary plot developments in today's time come along,
it takes away from the flow of the story, and it leaves the
audience's attention waning. The story of Edward Bloom dying is not
very exciting, the story of Edward Bloom's supposed past is exciting.
Big Fish has a very intricate story. There's a slew of characters who
seem to come in randomly, and who look/sound like others, and live in
the same place as others. Instead of, just say, taking away
development from someone who doesn't really matter, like Will's wife,
they take away some connecting points that could help the story make
sense. On the other hand, the movie did have some very funny moments,
with odd dialogue thrown in to make it funnier. Danny DeVito, as a
circus ringmaster with a very odd situation, comes off great, as does
Steve Buscemi, who's a "famous poet" who was part of the odd town of
Spectre and goes into an unusual profession now.
Everyone's been raving about how much Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney
look alike, which was very fortuitous. I didn't really think they
looked that similar, but that doesn't take away from the superior
acting job by Albert Finney. He not only got into his role, but
seemed like he had a fun time doing it. However, he's the only one
who really stands out; everyone else just "acts", nothing more,
nothing less. The score, by longtime Burton partner Danny Elfman, is
barely noticeable. If there was any music in it at all, I didn't
notice it.
I would like to see Big Fish again for one thing. Burton seems to be
a director who has fun with his movies. He references a lot of his
other movies in his movies. I caught a reference to Edward
Scissorhands, but all others eluded me. Overall, Big Fish is a fun
movie with some very weird qualities, but some qualities that aren't
particularly great.
Rated PG-13 for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference.
Running time: 125 minutes
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