Movie #70 - Big Fish

Big Fish
Sony Pictures
2003 - Rated PG-13 - 2 hr 5 min
Director: Tim Burton
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Marion Cotillard, Steve Buscemi

First Batman, then Beetlejuice, the second shelf turned out to be a veritable resume of Tim Burton's work. By 2003, however, his unique style was a bit more refined and he handles this tall tale like an epic movie. Visually, this movie is gorgeous. The field of daffodils, the giant fish, all of it is well done.

Albert Finney plays that stereotypical dad who always has a story to tell, some of them widely exagerated but usually rooted in truth. To tell us the story, we have Ewan McGregor as the young dad, his life a constant string of adventures from age 18. You could probably read into this movie to find elements from tales like the Odyssey or even Forest Gump, but it is unique enough to distract you from these similar "epics." In this movie, you'll find yourself wondering which parts are true and which are fabricated, but hoping that all of it did really happen.

Finney, still verbose as ever even on his deathbed, can't seem to connect to his adult son. The son, who perceives everything his father says to be a bedtime story, grapples with the impending loss of his father, a man he feels like he never understood. Their relationship is the real focus of this movie, with each tale driving them farther and farther apart.

As with most Burton films, the emotions and issues addressed her are commonplace. The relationships between father and son; the grief of loss; the desire to feel we've made a difference in our lives. But also like other Burton films, the characters are a bit quirky, the circumstances a bit off beat, and the premise an extreme version of what you might find in reality. I think this movie is one of his best.