Dan Owen reviews
Big Fish
'An Adventure As Big As Life Itself'
Viewed at Odeon, Lincoln Wharf
- 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:
(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:
(Go, Charlie's Angels) (based on the book by Daniel Wallace)
Cinematographer:
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 (Albert
Finney), an amiable old man who has embellished his life-story into a
20th-Century fairy tale for the entertainment of others. But while Bloom's
storytelling prowess is a hit with dinner guests, his recently-married son
Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) is anxious to understand his real father before
Bloom Senior dies of terminal cancer...
Based on a little-known book by Daniel Wallace, and adapted for the
big-screen by John August, Big Fish interweaves the reality of the present
with the imagined fantasy of the past. The movie is half dysfunctional
family drama, with Finney and Crudup jostling for acting plaudits alongside
Jessica Lange, and half comedy/daydream with Ewan MacGregor as the teenaged
Ed Bloom. Indeed, the movie has already been paralleled with that other
Southern flight of fancy Forrest Gump and has been nominated for various BAFTA and
Golden Globe Awards as well as an Oscar for Best Original Score.
Needless to say, the exploits of MacGregor's intrepid hero is naturally more
enjoyable than the bedside drama of Finney, Crudup and Lange. Here, Burton's
own imagination is free to breathe life into a menagerie of wacky events and
people: a friendly monotone giant, the titular big fish, a one-eyed witch,
singing Siamese twins, torrential downpours, a shoe-fearing village, and
many more fanciful moments.
Some people have different ideas of a good evening in.
Yet Big Fish is almost entirely without Burton's trademark darkness, with
the film mostly taking place in the bright Alabama outdoors - but it's none
the worse for this. Burton ensures that the strange and surreal imagery
punctuates the daylight hours just as readily as the night's, while leaving
the present-day scenes subdued for counter-balance.
Albert Finney is a fine actor, and should be congratulated for a fine
performance here. Billy Crudup makes the best of a role that is consistently
sidelined by the more wondrous side of the film, but nevertheless remains
integral to the drama and crucial when the film's finale shifts the action
into the present-day with tear-jerking effect.
Ewan MacGregor is his usual winsome self, clearly having great fun in a
fresh and breezy role that doesn't require much dramatic thought. With
MacGregor's character being a fantasy amalgamation, himself wandering
through larger-than-life events, all MacGregor has to do is react with
undemanding wonderment at the fabulous scenery, bizarre characters and
ludicrous 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 with
some believable romance. A sequence where Lange and Finney share a bath
fully clothed is sure to become one of the year's more memorably tender
scenes.
The M6 toll road was the last straw for some.
But, while Big Fish remains a very entertaining few hours of serene
strangeness from screenwriter John August, it rarely hits a stride.
Naturally, when the plot returns to the present-day the film loses some of
its impetus, and the fantasy sequences occasionally become listless and
slightly repetitive. It's also true that, in comparison with other Burton
imaginings, the film never really astonishes the audience. But August
should be congratulated for managing to make such a flimsy premise quite
compelling at times and genuinely pleasurable throughout.
Big Fish is most definitely a return to form for Burton after the
calamitous
Planet Of The Apes
"reimagining" and
Mars Attacks!,
Big Fish shouldn't disappoint fans too much, it's clear that Burton's
treading water... possibly until he's presented with another tailor-made
premise or screenplay - as was the case with Ed Wood and a certain
Edward Scissorhands...
DIRECTION
PERFORMANCES
SCREENPLAY
SOUND/MUSIC
SPECIAL FX
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OVERALL
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Review copyright © Dan Owen, 2004.
E-mail Dan Owen
Read all three of Dan Owen's Lord of the Rings reviews:
2001 The Fellowship of the Ring
2002 The Two Towers
2003 The Return of the King
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