Big Fish

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Big Fish

86% Liked It
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Big Fish

Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Hailey Anne Nelson, Billy Crudup, Miley Cyrus, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi, Jessica Lange, Marion Cotillard, Danny DeVito, Alison Lohman

A story about a son trying to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths his father told him about himself.

Id: 10895043

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Big Fish Recent Reviews
  • webalina
    October 6, 2009
    webalina
    I wish I wasn't so literal when it comes to movies. I'm sure there is more to this film allegorically or metaphorically or whatever speaking. But normally what I see is what I get. But that's OK in this case, because it stands on its own surface merits.

    Billy Crudup plays a y...( read more)oung expectant father who only knows his own father through the tall tales Dad tells about his life. The tales are so extreme -- shown as flashbacks in the film -- that the son believes none of it. When the father (played by Ewen MacGregor as the young man, and Albert Finney as the elder) is on his deathbed, the son sets out to find out the truth. On his quest he finds out things about his father as well as himself.

    This is typical Tim Burton stuff, with a fairytale look, oddball characters, and with lots of heart. I wasn't sure I was liking Big Fish at first, but after sleeping on it (I saw it last night), I decided I DO like it, particularly the ending. I left me with the idea of truth maybe being even stranger than fiction.
  • lewiskendell
    September 23, 2009
    lewiskendell
    Big Fish wants to be a lot of things. It wants to be an epic adventure tale, a fascinating collection of fables, and a story of reconcilliation between father and son. The movie is definitely more successful at achieving some of those things than others.

    I had to keep reminding...( read more) myself that this was a product of Tim Burton, because it was made without many of his signature flourishes. Much of it is set in bright, eye-catching locales that give a surreal feel to much of the film. The fantasy in Big Fish is about as far from Edward Scissorhands as it can be. Burton fanboys/girls will not be pleased if they watch this hoping for the standard Burton-isms. Yes, I made that word up. I like it though, and I'll probably use it again.

    Part of the movie is set in the real world, part is set in completely fictional locales, and the rest consists of idealized versions of places in Alabama like Auburn. I have to say that the real world portions are the least interesting, because the story being told there just is not written well enough to make the audience care. What should have been the heart of the movie is instead the stock melodrama that you would expect from a weekly cable show.

    The more imaginative portions of the movie are more interesting, but they never went as far as I wanted them to. A movie about tall tales and wild stories really needs more imagination than Big Fish had to offer. Ewan McGregor and Alison Lohman add a lot of charm that the script doesn't supply on its own (Danny Devito was pretty awesome too!), but they're only on-screen for part of the time. I'm not saying that the other actors are bad, it's just that they weren't really given a lot to work with.

    If I had to describe Big Fish with a single word, I would choose uneven. There are two movies tangled up in it together, but I really only was interested in one of them.
  • SirPant
    September 9, 2009
    SirPant
    A good film but not Burton at his best. It's style over content with only basic character development, which ultimately lets the story down.
  • MovieGeek13
    March 19, 2009
    MovieGeek13
    Tim Burton has always been an interesting filmmaker, and while this movie feels more concerned with getting to the images and crazy set pieces then it was about telling a human story, it shows imagination, which is severely lacking in movies today.
  • 76Majikat
    February 12, 2009
    76Majikat
    A fantastic adventure story, a truly beautiful film. I just love Albert Finney in this role and Ewan McGreggor too. This is an easy watching kind of ?moral to the story? type film, one that can be enjoyed at any age and watched over and over again, a real modern day fairy tale.
  • melcandy5
    December 5, 2009
    melcandy5
    It's such a cute movie! Really liked it :3
  • zhengjiamin
    December 5, 2009
    zhengjiamin
    Quiet moving film , I think. Very much I love the fascinating stories of the father. At last, he was a man who know what the truth of life. for most people, life is some kind of boring, it lacks story. However, we can go to creat our own story with our expectation and imaginatio...( read more)n. I have to say that Tim Button is a genious.
  • lemuelmaigue
    December 5, 2009
    lemuelmaigue
    Elvis resurrected by McGregor LOL!!

    It is very entertaining. A modern fairytale of adventure. In the first few minutes of the film, it is very exciting and mysterious but as the film integrates up to the middle it is getting boring because there is no integration in the ...( read more)story of their family but instead in the storytelling. It is just a son telling the story of his father, that's it. But when the ending came the change of perspective of his son made it interesting for me. At last something change in the story.My interest made me crave for the ending, and I was satisfied. It was great. Very meaningful. The fish is his father and the sea signifies all of the adventure Ed Bloom had gone. The mystery of his life was finally explained. There is nothing as happier as a life understood by people, and that what his son did. He told, explained and lived his father's story.
  • sklapro
    December 3, 2009
    sklapro
    yaakov recommended it to me, Tim Burton directed it.
  • Luciusthebigboss
    December 2, 2009
    Luciusthebigboss
    In my opnion it's a forrest gump wannabe, but i'ts not exactly a bad thing. Actually, the movie is pretty cool indeed.
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