Big Fish

Big Fish Buy this Double-sided poster  at AllPosters.com

Release Date: December 10, 2003 (NY, LA, Toronto; wider release: December 25; wide release: January 9)
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Director: Tim Burton
Screenwriter: John August
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Jessica Lange, Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Billy Crudup, Alison Lohman, Hailey Anne Nelson, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillarcd
Genre: Drama
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference)
Official Website: SonyPictures.com

Plot Summary: In the heartwarming film "Big Fish," director Tim Burton ("Batman," 'Edward Scissorhands") brings his inimitable imagination on a journey that delves deep into a fabled relationship between a father and his son. Edward Bloom (Finney) has always been a teller of tall-tales about his oversized life as a young man (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, blizzards, 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 (Crudup). When his mother Sandra (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.

Review By: Mike Thompson
- Who said they don't make 'em like they used to?

Tim Burton is known for doing some strange films, such as Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice (and is also making a new Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka in 2005). Films that involve a wide array of creativity and a good deal of imaginative thinking. Big Fish is another film to add to that list of fun and interesting movies. A very unusual idea which came about from the novel by Daniel Wallace. Steven Spielberg was originally going to direct but didn’t because of an overloaded schedule. And frankly, I am glad that Tim Burton picked up the movie instead. Spielberg is a directional genius, by all means, but some movies are just made for certain people. A movie like this with unbelievable things and tall tales is just screaming Burton’s name.

Big Fish is about Edward Bloom, all the tales of his life, and his son, William, trying to sort out fact from fiction. Ed loves to tell stories about his life all the time, sometimes adding a little spice to the story to make it more interesting and fun. We are told many of the stories and watch what happens to young Ed Bloom. William has heard all of these stories numerous times and doesn’t believe a single word of any of them. He is sick of them and finds that his father is always taking the attention away from him. When William says something about this to him, he starts a feud between them which results in no talking to each other for several years.

Three years later William is happily married and enjoying his life, when his mother calls to inform him that Ed has fallen sick. Both William and Josephine (his wife) fly to his father immediately. We are told many more stories in the midst of this. Telling of adventures Ed went on when he was a child, how he grew up in the small town of Ashton, and the story of how Edward and Sandra met and married. All of the stories we are shown are visually beautiful with a plot that makes us just want more and more.

Ewan McGregor plays the young Ed Bloom and guides us through all of the tall tales involved with Big Fish. He is excellent showing arrogance and gives us a sense of fairy tale bliss that makes us not fear for him, even in times of danger. The older Ed Bloom is played by Albert Finney (whose actual pictures of him when he was younger look exactly like the present day Ewan McGregor). Finney’s voice when telling the stories makes the audience feel like they’re father or grandfather is telling them a classic family tale. Both McGregor and Finney are played to perfection, there couldn’t have been two better actors for this film.

In the end Big Fish shows us how complex a father/son relationship is and how difficult it is to understand each other. Tim Burton does an outstanding job here and has made a magnificent film that is visual candy for the sweet tooth in all our eyes.