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Movies / On DVD / Big Fish
Big Fish

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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

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Reviews for Big Fish

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121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

For me, a Will who wishes she were an Edward, the movie inspired by the Daniel Wallace novel is a minor classic.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Inquirer | comment Comment
12/25/03
Carrie Rickey
Carrie Rickey
Philadelphia Inquirer

A biography of a Southern man (Albert Finney) known as a spinner of tall tales, each of them illustrated by Burton in his enjoyably peculiar fashion.

Full Review Source: Philadelphia Daily News | comment Comment
12/25/03
Gary Thompson
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News

Herniated whimsy -- straining, as labored as those poor Brits who stuff their mouths with grits and try to talk like Southerners.

Full Review Source: Orlando Sentinel | comment Comment
12/25/03
Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Orlando Sentinel

Burton, who has clung to the trappings of precocious genius well into his 40s, demonstrates a new emotional maturity.

Full Review Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune | comment Comment
12/25/03
Colin Covert
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune

An enchanting tale from Tim Burton that weaves together reality and myth so touchingly it hardly matters which is which.

Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | comment Comment
12/25/03
Eric Harrison
Eric Harrison
Houston Chronicle

Funny, touching, smart, whimsical, dazzling and, at times, downright magical.

Full Review Source: Detroit News | comment Comment
12/25/03
Tom Long
Tom Long
Detroit News

It's gentle and pleasing and I appreciated the mixture of oddness, whimsy and emotion that informs Burton's search for the place where truth and fiction meet.

Full Review Source: Denver Rocky Mountain News | comment Comment
12/25/03
Robert Denerstein
Robert Denerstein
Denver Rocky Mountain News

A bountiful pleasure.

Full Review Source: Denver Post | comment Comment
12/25/03
Lisa Kennedy
Lisa Kennedy
Denver Post

Offers its audience a long and winding road, with refreshing pauses. And it proves that mega-budgets have not spoiled Tim Burton's vision.

Full Review Source: Dallas Morning News | comment Comment
12/25/03
Philip Wuntch
Philip Wuntch
Dallas Morning News

Tim Burton's Southern-fried tall tale about fathers and sons is a lot better -- and a lot warmer -- than his recent work.

Full Review Source: Netflix | comment Comment
12/25/03
James Rocchi
James Rocchi
Netflix

There is no denying that Will has a point: The old man is a blowhard. There is a point at which his stories stop working as entertainment and segue into sadism.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
12/25/03
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

It's got the mawkish soul of a male Beaches ... a claustrophobic and often irritating storytelling style, yet it's powered by the quirky genius of Tim Burton, which can't help but redeem it.

Full Review Source: Contra Costa Times | comment Comment
12/25/03
Mary F. Pols
Mary F. Pols
Contra Costa Times

The picture's images linger.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
12/25/03
Wesley Morris
Wesley Morris
Boston Globe

Mostly confined to bed throughout the film, Finney pulls us to him with a flawless combination of theatrical skill and movie-star radiance.

Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution | comment Comment
12/25/03
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Eleanor Ringel Gillespie
Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A whopper of a movie, told by the master of the modern-day fairy tale, Tim Burton.

Full Review Source: Arizona Republic | comment Comment
12/25/03
Bill Muller
Bill Muller
Arizona Republic

Burton, who once used as much distancing irony in his movies as celluloid, seems no longer afraid of ordinary emotion or of dealing with people who might actually walk and breathe and die among us.

Full Review Source: Dallas Observer | comment Comment
12/25/03
Robert Wilonsky
Robert Wilonsky
Dallas Observer

The gradual coalescence of Edward's actual and fantasy worlds is the real revelation for Burton-watchers, taking the filmmaker into territory that's surprisingly complex and mature.

Full Review Source: Orlando Weekly | comment Comment
12/25/03
Steve Schneider
Steve Schneider
Orlando Weekly

Burton has not given his imagination such free rein since Edward Scissorhands, and this stands with that and the equally generous Ed Wood as one of his best movies.

Full Review Source: Detroit Free Press | comment Comment
12/25/03
Terry Lawson
Terry Lawson
Detroit Free Press

We’re set-up for one of the grand emotional climaxes in this or any year. The double-duty of the finale is enough to bring any disbeliever around.

Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | comment Comment
12/24/03
Erik Childress
Erik Childress
eFilmCritic.com

A romantic adventure & quirky character comedy, with a warm center, but takes more than 3 licks to get to the center of this treat...largely whimsy with no heart.

Full Review Source: Cinerina | comment Comment
12/24/03
Karina Montgomery
Karina Montgomery
Cinerina
 
 
121 - 140 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 >> >|
all

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