In Big Fish, Edward Bloom (played in youth by Ewan McGregor and in senior years by Albert Finney) is a storyteller. The only person who isn't thrilled with his ability is his son William (Billy Crudup). So William starts a search to discover if there's some truth to his father's stories.
Not only was this film good, it surprised me. It expected the film to be just okay, but my mind was blown. There's only so much we can talk about so let's talk about the best aspects one by one.
First: The father-son aspect. This is something I've always loved in stories whether by Steven Spielberg or the Kendrick brothers Courageous. It's masterfully told through screenwriter John August and by the actors. And now, the characters.
Edward Bloom
Both Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney do great across from each other. McGregor's accent makes you think he WAS actually from down south. Originally, Steven Spielberg was going to direct this and Jack Nicholson was going to be old Edward. Spielberg dropped out and gave the project to Tim Burton. Thank you, Steven, from the bottom of my heart.
Sandra Bloom
Like McGregor and Finney, Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman go great across each other. But like the movie, relative newcomer at the time Alison Lohman surprised me. In a world with such horrible actress as Megan Fox, Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Amanda Seyfried, Lohman (who after Big Fish worked with Ridley Scott in Matchstick Men) displays incredible range. Thanks to these actress, you really fell that Sandra and Edward are in love. That's good writing.
William and Josephine Bloom
Billy Crudup does a good job playing a son who longs to know if the stories his father told him are true. For her first American film (no, really), Marion Cotillard does her role well. I enjoyed her an the evil yet sympathetic Mal in Christopher Nolan's Inception and here she has such a grace to her role.
Jenny
I'm a fan of Helena Bonham Carter (she was great as Queen Elizabeth in The Kings Speech) and she this is so far the second time I've seen her play a normal person. Like Cotillard, she plays her character (both in young and senior years) with grace. When Edward goes to fix her house, one of the best bits of writing in the film occurs. When she admits that she loves Edward, Edward retaliates by stating that he can love no one else but his wife and "that from the day I saw her to the day I die, she's the only woman I want to be with." That's good writing. It not only avoids the cliche that is adultery and or affair but Jenny takes in with stride and decides to let go of her long-hidden crush and she moves on. That's just awesome.
There are so many characters that I can't cover all of them but let me just say there is not a single weak performance. Danny DeVito and Steve Buscemi do good jobs as the comic relief of the film. Though she only plays the character for a few minutes, Helena Bonham Carter is admirable as the crazy witch from Edward's childhood. Robert Guillaume does a good job as the doctor of the family as does the giant who plays Karl.
The film is also expertly made. While Tim Burton's creepiness and imagery occasionally pop up, they don't often. Danny Elfman's score is spectacular and my favorite of Elfman's work. The Celtic and southern sounds mix well together. The costumes are colorful and bright as is the cinematography. Oscar-winner Philippe Rousselot (who won for A River Runs Through It) gives the flashback's a glow and the colors in both the present and flashback's are bright and colorful.
Tim Burton made this film after his father's death in 2001 and his mother's the next year. You can see in the film that he's displaying something he described in an interview as "I didn't have a good relationship with my dad." The longing for connection shows. I can't tell you how the film ends but let me tell you it ends well.
This is my favorite Tim Burton film and I give it a 4 out of 4.
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