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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-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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Release:

Apr 27, 2004

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Reviews for Big Fish

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Reviews
Tomatometer Critic Review Category
tomato

Rob Nelson

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.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 21 2009 11:19 AM

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

N/R

Felix Vasquez Jr.

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 29 2009 03:16 AM

Cinema Crazed

N/R

Urban Cinefile Critics

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 18 2008 04:26 AM

Urban Cinefile

splat
2/5

Jim Lane

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 07 2008 03:16 AM

Sacramento News & Review

splat
2.5/4

Joe Lozito

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 27 2007 03:15 AM

Big Picture Big Sound

tomato
4/5

Rob Gonsalves

I enjoyed Big Fish more than any film Burton has been involved with since maybe Nightmare Before Christmas.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jul., 23 2007 06:04 PM

eFilmCritic.com

tomato
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 01 2006 03:50 AM

Empire Magazine

N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Feb., 09 2006 03:16 AM

Time Out

tomato
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 06 2005 07:51 PM

Film Threat

tomato
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 06 2005 07:51 PM

Film Threat

tomato
4.5/5

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 06 2005 07:51 PM

Film Threat

tomato
B

Christopher Smith

Plays to Burton's strengths as an auteur of fantasy colliding with reality.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Nov., 11 2005 05:13 AM

Bangor Daily News (Maine)

tomato
A-

Nick Schager

An ebullient tall tale about the magic of imagination and the power of myth.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | May., 03 2005 05:40 PM

Lessons of Darkness

tomato
3.5/5

Garth Franklin

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Apr., 02 2005 11:02 PM

Dark Horizons

tomato
4/5

Ethan Alter

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Mar., 05 2005 10:38 PM

NYC Film Critic

tomato
B-

Jeffrey Overstreet

[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.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Jan., 15 2005 10:40 PM

Christianity Today

tomato
B+

Louis-Jérôme Cloutier

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.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Dec., 16 2004 02:22 PM

Panorama

tomato
A

Steve Crum

Burton has crafted a sweet yet bizarre film seeming at times like 'The Twilight Zone' in Oz.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Oct., 30 2004 07:18 PM

Kansas City Kansan

tomato
B-

Philip Martin

...there's never been a less ambitious Tim Burton film

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 25 2004 10:05 AM

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

tomato
4.5/5

Mark Sells

A heartwarming, nostalgic story of tall tales and even taller dreams.

Full Review Source: | comment Comment | Aug., 13 2004 08:51 AM

Oregon Herald

 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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