Burton, favoring form over content, flavor over fact, has been often criticized for not knowing how to bring his work to satisfactory resolution. But I'd call that a good thing. Blame it on his dad.
Big Fish (2003)
Tomatometer
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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-13 [See Full Rating] for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference
Runtime: 2 hrs 5 mins
Genre: Dramas
Theatrical Release:Dec 10, 2003 Limited
Box Office: $66,257,002
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
I enjoyed Big Fish more than any film Burton has been involved with since maybe Nightmare Before Christmas.
Plays to Burton's strengths as an auteur of fantasy colliding with reality.
An ebullient tall tale about the magic of imagination and the power of myth.
[Burton] celebrates the empty imaginings of the lost, because he assumes there is no real liberation, there is no glory awaiting us, except that which we invent for ourselves.
Un film délicieux que l’on écoute avec légèreté et qui fait passer un bon moment grâce à son humour, sa féerie, mais aussi dans la façon dont il nous touche.
Burton has crafted a sweet yet bizarre film seeming at times like 'The Twilight Zone' in Oz.
A heartwarming, nostalgic story of tall tales and even taller dreams.
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