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Dan Owen reviews
- Cert:
- Running time: 145 minutes
- Year: 2003
- Released: 30th January 2004 (London: 23rd)
- Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
- Sound: DTS, Dolby Digital 5.1, SDDS
Director:
- Tim Burton
(Planet Of The Apes (2001), Sleepy Hollow, Mars Attacks!, Batman Returns, Batman, Ed Wood, Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure)
Producers:
- Bruce Cohen, Katterli Frauenfelder, Dan Jinks, Arne Schmidt & Richard D. Zanuck
Screenplay:
- John August
(Go, Charlie’s Angels) (based on the book by Daniel Wallace)
Cinematographer:
- Philippe Rousselot
Music Score:
- Danny Elfman (Hulk, Spider-Man, Planet Of The Apes, Mars Attacks!, Men In Black, Batman Returns, Batman, Edward Scissorhands, “Beetlejuice, Pee Wee’s Big Adventure)
Cast:
- Young Ed Bloom: Ewan McGregor
Senior Ed Bloom: Albert Finney
Will Bloom: Billy Crudup
Senior Sandra Bloom: Jessica Lange
Young Sandra Bloom: Alison Lohman
Jenny / The Witch: Helena Bonham Carter
Senior Dr. Bennett: Robert Guillaume
Josephine: Marion Cotillard
Karl: Matthew McGrory
Bon Price, aged 18-22: David Denman
Mildred: Missi Pyle
Beamen: Loudon Wainwright III
Ping: Ada Tai
Jing: Arlene Tai
Norther Winslow: Steve Buscemi
Amos Calloway: Danny DeVito
More reliable than some builders.
After the much-maligned Planet Of The Apes remake,visionary director Tim Burton about-turns to helm a more personable film about Edward Bloom (AlbertFinney), an amiable old man who has embellished his life-story into a20th-Century fairy tale for the entertainment of others. But while Bloom’sstorytelling prowess is a hit with dinner guests, his recently-married sonWill Bloom (Billy Crudup) is anxious to understand his real father beforeBloom Senior dies of terminal cancer…
Based on a little-known book by Daniel Wallace, and adapted for thebig-screen by John August, Big Fish interweaves the reality of the presentwith the imagined fantasy of the past. The movie is half dysfunctionalfamily drama, with Finney and Crudup jostling for acting plaudits alongsideJessica Lange, and half comedy/daydream with Ewan MacGregor as the teenagedEd Bloom. Indeed, the movie has already been paralleled with that otherSouthern flight of fancy Forrest Gump and has been nominated for various BAFTA andGolden Globe Awards as well as an Oscar for Best Original Score.
Needless to say, the exploits of MacGregor’s intrepid hero is naturally moreenjoyable than the bedside drama of Finney, Crudup and Lange. Here, Burton’sown imagination is free to breathe life into a menagerie of wacky events andpeople: a friendly monotone giant, the titular big fish, a one-eyed witch,singing Siamese twins, torrential downpours, a shoe-fearing village, andmany more fanciful moments.
Some people have different ideas of a good evening in.
Yet Big Fish is almost entirely without Burton’s trademark darkness, withthe film mostly taking place in the bright Alabama outdoors – but it’s nonethe worse for this. Burton ensures that the strange and surreal imagerypunctuates the daylight hours just as readily as the night’s, while leavingthe present-day scenes subdued for counter-balance.
Albert Finney is a fine actor, and should be congratulated for a fineperformance here. Billy Crudup makes the best of a role that is consistentlysidelined by the more wondrous side of the film, but nevertheless remainsintegral to the drama and crucial when the film’s finale shifts the actioninto the present-day with tear-jerking effect.
Ewan MacGregor is his usual winsome self, clearly having great fun in afresh and breezy role that doesn’t require much dramatic thought. WithMacGregor’s character being a fantasy amalgamation, himself wanderingthrough larger-than-life events, all MacGregor has to do is react withundemanding wonderment at the fabulous scenery, bizarre characters andludicrous events his illusory younger Bloom has to contend with.
Jessica Lange deserves special mention for her undiminished star-power,lighting up the screen whenever she’s called to and providing Finney withsome believable romance. A sequence where Lange and Finney share a bathfully clothed is sure to become one of the year’s more memorably tenderscenes.
The M6 toll road was the last straw for some.
But, while Big Fish remains a very entertaining few hours of serenestrangeness from screenwriter John August, it rarely hits a stride.Naturally, when the plot returns to the present-day the film loses some ofits impetus, and the fantasy sequences occasionally become listless andslightly repetitive. It’s also true that, in comparison with other Burtonimaginings, the film never really astonishes the audience. But Augustshould be congratulated for managing to make such a flimsy premise quitecompelling at times and genuinely pleasurable throughout.
Big Fish is most definitely a return to form for Burton after thecalamitousPlanet Of The Apes“reimagining” andMars Attacks!,Big Fish shouldn’t disappoint fans too much, it’s clear that Burton’streading water… possibly until he’s presented with another tailor-madepremise or screenplay – as was the case with Ed Wood and a certainEdward Scissorhands…
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.