Tim Burton's latest flight into fantasy lands a near-solid hook, line, and sinker as a whimsical family fable…
Big Fish (2003)
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Reviews Counted:203
Fresh:156
Rotten:47
Average Rating:7.2/10
Consensus: A charming father-and-son tale filled with typical Tim Burton flourishes.
Rated: PG [See Full Rating] for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:23-01-2004
Synopsis: In Tim Burton's family film BIG FISH, a gifted storyteller named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), who lives in a small town in Alabama, recounts tall tales of his wild worldly adventures. These are... In Tim Burton's family film BIG FISH, a gifted storyteller named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), who lives in a small town in Alabama, recounts tall tales of his wild worldly adventures. These are shown in flashback with Ewan McGregor playing the young Bloom. Wonderful special effects and vibrant colors that pop off the screen make this Burton film a much sunnier experience than his macabre gems EDWARD SCISSORHANDS and BEETLEJUICE. Yet his signature quirky artistry is unmistakable, and the movie benefits from crisp production values and a loveable, bizarre cast of characters. Told through a series of vignettes, Bloom's stories involve a witch, a giant, a haunted forest, and yes, a big fish. A self-described small-town hero, Bloom explains how he left home at 18 determined to experience anything and everything life could dish out. He worked for the circus, took on daring assignments as a WWII soldier, and rambled across the country as a zany traveling salesman. Utterly unbelievable yet magical and delightful, Bloom's stories just don't translate to his son Will (Billy Crudup) who wants to know his dad's "true" life story. But little by little--through increasingly outlandish tales at which Will cannot resist smirking--the two begin to understand each other, and Bloom weaves his stories into their genealogical fabric. [More]
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham-Carter, Robert Guillaume, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Marion Cotillard, Matthew McGrory, Loudon Wainwright
Director: Tim Burton
Director: Tim Burton
Screenwriter: John August
Producer: Richard D. Zanuck, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
Composer: Danny Elfman
Studio: Columbia Pictures
Reviews for Big Fish
The taming by Hollywood of divinely weird and edgy imaginations like Tim Burton, is pretty much a fish out of water experience.
The tall tales Edward tells in Fish are aided by Burton’s limitless imagination and visual ingenuity.
Feels like a sham, all tripe and not enough of Burton’s gothic childlike mindset, and also infused with a heavy saccharine dose of big-hearted Life Lessons that drop from the screen like anvils made of rock candy.
'Big Fish,' my top-ranked film of 2003, not only charmed me completely with its humanity and whimsical humor -- it also surprised me with its wisdom.
Big Fish speaks directly from Burton's sensibility -- it may be the most personal film he's made yet.
Big Fish has heart and it has originality, but its greatest attribute of all is its pure honesty.
Its tricks don't all resonate, but it treats us as grown-ups, even as it tries to reach the last bit of child in us.
Bold colors and weird twists create a sense that wondrous things can happen in an instant.
Better than anything Burton has made in years, but it is never completely what a good story should be: compulsively entertaining.
Burton's fabled imagination runs wild with this material, and Big Fish often achieves a whimsical, poetic beauty.
An engagingly whimsical, sporadically charming, frequently very funny Southern Gothic fantasy that somehow doesn't quite come together to be as magical or meaningful as it's intended to be.
Clocking in at two hours, it runs way too long for a flight of fancy, packs a couple of false endings, and, a first for Burton, feels flat and familiar, like recycled Ray Bradbury.
A most companionable, personable film, and it marks Tim Burton's return to form.
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