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 here is something so heartfelt and sincere about Tim
Burton's "Big Fish" that if you don't find yourself smiling during the
movie and then deeply affected when it's done, you are the type of person I do
not wish to ever meet. "Big Fish" is the type of movie Burton should
be making, not overdone action fare like "Sleepy
Hollow" or, God forbid, more of the likes of "Planet
of the Apes". Few movies can make two hours seem like one, and when
it's all over you wish there was more. It's to the credit of Burton,
screenwriter John August ("Go"),
and the leading turns by Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney that we wish their
movie was longer.
"Big Fish" stars Albert Finney ("Erin
Brockovich") as Ed Bloom, an eccentric traveling salesman now on his
deathbed. His son Will (Billy Crudup) is called home, but Will has issues with
his often-absent father. After three years of not talking, father and son have
little in common. Ed is a man of many stories, and many of them are so
fantastical that the now-grown Will refuses to believe his father is anything
but a devoted liar. Between Will trying to come to terms with his father, we see
Ed's stories play out in all their glory.
Young Ed is played by Ewan McGregor ("Down
With Love"), a charmingly affable young man with an indomitable spirit.
As Ed tells in one of his "big fish stories", he was born to do great
things and easily excels at everything he tries his hand at. Having outgrown his
small town, Ed travels out to the rest of the world, where he meets a giant, a
circus ringmaster who is also a wolf, and falls madly in love with his wife,
played by Alison Lohman ("Matchstick
Men") as a young girl and Jessica Lange ("Titus")
in the present day.
To sit down and watch "Big Fish" one must
approach it with a clean slate. Unlike son Will, who sees his father as a
stranger incapable of telling the truth, we must be willing to accept the
script, based on a novel by Daniel Wallace, as is. Oh sure, there is no denying
that most, if not all, of Ed's tales are just that -- tall tales. But to accept
them, without a shred of doubt, is what is needed to fully "get" the
magical vibe of "Big Fish". But while the film's retelling of Ed's
tales are meant to be taken with a wink and a nod, Ed's relationship with his
son in the present resonates with very real emotion.
It's hard to stress just how good "Big Fish" is.
The word "fantastic" keeps cropping up as I try to properly do the
story some justice. Tim Burton is no stranger to weirdness, but "Big
Fish" is more than just weird. It's what can happen when vibrant
imaginations receive aid from state-of-the-art computer effects. Not a single
scene is shortchanged; in fact, it's quite amazing how realistic the film's
fantasy segments are. The film has such life to it that one will be hardpressed
to notice the CGI or computer effects being used. In that way, Burton and
company have managed to blend technology with imagination and not call attention
to the seamless blending.
"Big Fish" is a marvelous accomplishment. Not
just technically, but in every category that matters. In the few scenes that
she's in, Jessica Lange is so understated and yet so effective. Her scene with
Finney, in a bathtub, is heartbreaking in its simplicity; and yet you never feel
sorry for them, but rather awed at their continued, and inseparable, affections
for one another. The only question mark is Billy Crudup ("Charlotte
Gray"), whose character's sometimes abrasive attitude threatens to
dampen the oftentimes light-hearted mood. Crudup seems to be giving off too much
intensity; at least, more than is appropriate for the role.
"Big Fish" is a marvelous, wonderful, and magical
movie. It's simply an amazing film from beginning to end, the kind of film that
can be seen at just about any occasion one finds oneself in. Rather sad, happy,
or somewhere in-between, it hardly matters. "Big Fish" can cheer you
up and at the same time reaffirm your believe in living life. It's the kind of
special movie that no review can really do it proper justice.
And so I will stop now, and just tell you to see this
movie. It's worth more than two hours of your time.
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