Big Fish
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Movie Reviews of Big Fish
Movie Review: Big fish of a tale
Summary: 5 Stars
Edward Bloom is a storyteller. He has tall tales to tell to everyone who'll listen, and to some who won't want to. According to him, he has lived a big life, with big things, big events, big characters (literally!). And it seems everyone enjoys this tales...except for his own son, Will (Crudup).Will is mad at his father for never showing him the real person that he is, and as a result of this difference, they've spent more than three years without talking to each other. Until the day his father falls seriously ill and Will comes home in one last attempt to get to know his old man.
Just as much as a story of Edward Bloom's grand persona, this is a tale about a father and a son finally seeing eye to eye.
We get to meet Edward Bloom as a child, as a young man (played by McGregor) and as an old man (played by Finney) as he lives many of his adventures, from the time he met the town witch (Bonham-Carter), to the travels with Karl the giant and the meeting and wooing of this future wife Sandra (played as a young lady by Lohman and as an older woman by Lange). Throughout his life he meets amazing characters like Karl, the circus folk (including DeVito as the ringleader), the singing Chinese siamese twins, the hometown poet (Buscemi) and the people at the fabled town of Spectre.
While this film deals with magical and unusual characters and situationes, this is not your average Tim Burton piece of work. Gone are the dark, moody and sometimes eerie and scary settings, replaced by warmth and fun, and a happier story than in his previous movies.
The acting in the film is pretty good, especially Finney, McGregor and Crudup, but the best thing about this movie is its setting. Everything seems to be made out of some kind of magic, beautiful and shiny when things are going well, broken and dark when things go bad.
If there is one thing that I could complain about, is that the film seemed a bit long. The pace was too slow in some places, but as a whole, I think that was important for the storytelling.
In the end, Big fish is a lovely tale about a father and a son, and the many tall tales that separated them and then joyned them in the end...
Movie Review: The magic marvelous!
Summary: 5 Stars
Who can deny about the originality and underground gaze of this filmmaker? Burton is the true authentic storyteller whose imagination has overcome the standards. From Beetlejuice through Batman I, The sleepy hallow to this trip plenty of visual elegance and arresting and captivating images all along the movie.
Supported by a smart script , it faces the bitter relationship between father and son. The father to my mind represents the same Burton, where imagination and reality are blended, so the limits between what's the official story and what was dreamed is difficult to definite.
His son grows surrounded of legends and half truths and when his father to just one step from dying. He decides to rebuilt all his father's life trying to find and establish the truth from the legend. The fish and the wedding ring is a special life lesson that will be revealed at the end. But the kinetic camera and the ravishing journey behind the great love of his father, the impressive sequence with the huge yellow narcissus carpet will be the mute witness for the materialization of that expected love.
Burton through this extraordinary metaphor, and visibly inspire by the magic realism -Think in Alejo Carpentier and Gabriel García Márquez-, invites us to think and reflect about the love for the little things, to see far beyond the meaning of the things by themselves and the importance of the imagination as the true essence of a better existence. Of course there is a heartfelt homage to Wizard of Oz, in the thirties, Rene Clair's Beauties of the night in the fifties, Mary Popins in the seventies Fellini' s Amarcord and The clowns, of the seventies, Petersen's Never ending' s story, of the eighties and Jean Pierre Jeunet's the city of lost children of the nineties.
The cast is impressive Finney steals the show as the dying father, Ewan Mc Gregor as himself in his youth and the fabulous Helena Bonham Carter shines in her secondary lines with her enigmatic beauty and supreme talent.
Sumptuousness, and poetic rendition.
Movie Review: An exceptional Motion Picture!
Summary: 5 Stars
It did take a creative genius like Tim Burton to put this story unto celluloid. While this film has entertainment value, the content is more of a serious nature. Aside from the depiction of an interesting father/son relationship, this movie also tackles vital aspects of human nature regarding the retelling of certain events, or stories that we all tell to put it simple. While these stories may seem unbelievable to some, these may be perceived by others as flat out lies.
"Big Fish" brings out the magic of the workings of our memories that while there might be even a significant underlying truth and actual events to every story, our perception and memories are also influenced and even dominated by our emotions at the time of such events and later on again when retelling and/or expressing such memories. It's the memories that nobody can steal from us and which we carry with us throughout our lives.
When we share our memories, the issue is not that we retell the exact detail of actual events, but rather that we let our human nature express itself with its emotions, passions to perhaps even share our dreams with others to communicate a moral to a story or maybe even an important lesson in life. We are creative individuals and this is what makes each one of us so very interesting and valuable. That's what this film brings out in a really exceptional way and that's why it is a literal masterpiece.
True, this film may not be everybody's cup of tea, but nevertheless it is a sweet story, and makes you think about yourself and other people in your life, as it is also a true classic motion picture event. The acting is absolutely superb as it is always the case with Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor does a great job too. The scenery is beautiful and the photography is exceptional, and sure you will find some of Tim Burton's trademark shocking or even somewhat scary moments, but always the humorous relief.
I think this motion picture has been overlooked and it is definitely a treasure in every DVD collection.
Movie Review: Tim Burton knows how to tell a Tall Tale!
Summary: 5 Stars
Interesting casting choices in having Scottish Ewan McGregor play the young version and Brit Albert Finney play the older version of Alabama Tall Tale Teller Edward Bloom. There is a payoff, though, because Edward Bloom is a man larger than life and both of these actors successfully bring this character to the screen in larger-than-life fashion.Edward Bloom loves to tell stories and his favorite ones have Edward Bloom as the main character. His stories are entertaining to folks the first time they hear them. His grown son loved the stories when he was young too, but now they are both older, the stories are no longer charming, and the son feels that he doesn't know his "real" father at all.
This scintillating film by Tim Burton lets us see the legendary side of Edward Bloom, and in bits and pieces it lets us in on where the fiction ends and the facts really lie. The elderly Edward Bloom isn't against telling the truth, but he recognizes that there is more fun if there is "flavor" in the stories as well.
Danny Elfman's score, as usual, provides the perfect compliment to a Burton film. Supporting roles are wonderfully cast, such as Jessica Lange as the grown-up Mrs. Bloom and Alison Lohman as the younger version of the same character. Danny Devito plays a circus ring-leader with a secret or two. Steve Buscemi plays a beloved poet laureate who goes looking for adventure because of the example of our Hero. Helena Bonham Carter is wonderful in essentially three roles, as an old witch with a glass-eye which tells you how you're going to die if you look into it, then as the young and older versions of a woman who takes a fancy to Edward Bloom in the mythic town of Spectre Alabama. Ten foot giants, giant catfish, Siamese-twin vaudeville singers are only a small part of the narrative which weaves back and forth between a wonderfully inventive fantasy world and the reality of the world of Edward Bloom.
Only recommended for those with imagination who want to be entertained.
Movie Review: One of the best Over-Looked movies you will ever see...
Summary: 5 Stars
I am not one to type many reviews on Amazon, but for this movie I had to make an exception.
Big Fish is a wonderful movie written and directed by Tim Burton. Being a Tim Burton movie you expect a dark and gloomy type of filming and story that brings your interest into the main characters but yet keeps you on the edge while waiting to see the strange sides of darkness that he can expose is characters and in his movies. But though Tim Burton seems to have a mastery of the dark film, it is amazing to see a man show how wonderful and bright life can be.
The story itself is a Great inspiration of how one mans life can affect so many others, and also shows that redemption can never come too late as the Son and Father come to a place of respect and love in the end of the movie. But what amazes me the most about this movie is how even though you can classify it as a "feel good" movie, it goes so far beyond that. It's a movie that sticks with you and seemly coveys a message that you take home, it gives you a feeling of hope. Just watch this movie and see how good you feel and how it is not cheesy conveyed emotions or over the top acting, just total stability where these actors convey a marvelous story in a real to life way.
The special affects are amazing and what is great about them is that they are only used to make a point or to tell the tall tales his Father tells him, and you continue to look forward to every little story he will tell in the movie so you can see a great little imagination play out on the screen in a larger than life way.
I highly recommend this movie, I was a fool to say I'd never see it because Tim Burton made it. I am amazed a guy who seems to be so skilled with eerie and dark movies can find such a way to embrace life and show the good in everyday people while making you feel wonderful and inspired all at once. This ranks right up next to Shawshank Redemption as one of the greatest overlooked movie of the past 10 years.