Big Fish

Big Fish is supposed to be Tim Burton’s masterpiece, combining a larger than life biography with a more intimate tale of a father and son. In case anyone might be unsure of this, ads for the film include a quote from a critic that says, “This is Tim Burton’s masterpiece.” How helpful!

‘Big Fish’: Tim Burton’s would-be masterpiece.

As you’ve probably already figured out, I don’t agree. The sprawling story of an old man’s tall tales and the frustration of his estranged son struggles to be both fanciful and emotionally resonant. Occasionally it succeeds, but too often the film is simply pretty, but vacant. If only Burton wasn’t trying so hard to be important.

The former animator brought us the feature films Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure (1985), Beetlejuice (1988), Batman (1989), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Batman Returns (1992), Ed Wood (1994), Mars Attacks! (1996), Sleepy Hollow (1999) and Planet of the Apes (2001). I won’t tackle a career retrospective here. Suffice to say that the last two were the ones I liked the least, primarily because they felt overly mannered.

A lot of Big Fish feels that way as well. The sets, even the good ones, look like sets. The would-be poignant moments feel calculated. Many of the fanciful vignettes seem unfinished. The score, by longtime collaborator Danny Elfman, gets awfully cloying. And most of the impressive cast members are given little to work with.

I should stress again that there are some dandy moments in the movie. If Big Fish popped up on TV, I would likely tune in for the good stuff. But a full price admission at the multiplex is more than this wheezy concoction deserves.
The story, adapted by John August from Daniel Wallace’s book Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions, revolves around Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a coot who never misses an opportunity to regale others with wild tales of his youth. He is supposed to be cantankerous and lovable, but he only gets the first part right.

His adult son Will (Billy Crudup) believes that his dad uses the stories as a shield to keep loved ones at arm’s length. Only when mother Sandra (Jessica Lange) tells him that Edward is ailing does Will, now relocated to Paris, reluctantly return to the family home in America, bringing along with him his French wife, Josephine (Marion Cotillard).

He finds his bedridden father as annoying as ever, while Josephine is enchanted. While Edward recounts his life story to his daughter-in-law, Will tries to deal with hearing the oft-told adventures yet again, and decides to find out the truth — if any — behind them.

SPOILER ALERT: REVEALS THE PLOT BASICS. In flashbacks, we see Edward’s slapstick birth and his adolescence (which has a similar look and tone to the tall tale about a pie-eating contest recounted in Stand By Me). During one engaging scene, he meets a witch (Helena Bonham Carter) with a glass eye that foretells the death of its beholder. As a young adult, Edward (played with wide-eyed charm by Ewan McGregor) has a fateful encounter with a misunderstood giant (Matthew McGrory) and decides to leave his small Alabama home town and go adventuring.

In one of the better bits, he visits Specter, an otherworldly burg with bright green grass where the streets and sidewalks would normally be (neat idea, but man, does it ever look like a movie set), and falls in with its blissed-out residents. Troubadour Loudon Wainwright III, sporting a mesmerizing perma-grin, pops up here as the town mayor and Steve Buscemi has a nice turn as a would-be poet. Later, he hooks up with a circus (run by a crafty ringmaster played by Danny DeVito), where he spies young Sandra (Alison Lohman) in the crowd and is instantly smitten.

The adventures keep on coming, including Edward’s inadvertent participation in a bank robbery, his wooing of Sandra, a military stint in Korea that features a memorable meeting with two gorgeous lounge singers (Ada Tai and Arlene Tai) who are also conjoined twins, his trip back to the States and, well, you get the idea. END SPOILERS.

I respect Tim Burton and I wanted to embrace Big Fish, but the parts that succeed are not enough to overcome the aforementioned problems, as well as the film’s general logy feel. I suspect that those with unresolved issues with their fathers may be more charitable to the film (to those people, I suggest you make up with your dad as soon as possible, and no, I’m not being a smart-ass; it’s just a good idea). Burton is next set to do Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Hopefully, he will focus less on making grand statements and more on following his unique vision.