Review: Big Fish (**)

BIG FISH
A film review by Steve Rhodes

Copyright 2003 Steve Rhodes

RATING (0 TO ****): **


BIG FISH is an overstuffed Christmas movie about a dying father who has
spent his life telling non-stop tall tales to his family and about his
estranged, grownup son who wants his dad to stop lying and finally tell the
truth. This PG-rated fairy tale for adults is directed by Tim Burton
(SLEEPY HOLLOW) and features Albert Finney as the father, Edward Bloom, and
Billy Crudup as his son, William. Ewan McGregor, as the young adult Edward,
is actually the star of the movie as well as of all of the older Edward's
whoppers. The episodic story has a cast of thousands that includes parts
for Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi and
Danny DeVito, among others.



As the father retells his oft-told tales, he peppers us with little
homilies. "A giant of a man can't have an ordinary sized life," the younger
Edward remarks. His character is so much like a slightly smarter Forrest
Gump that I kept waiting for the Ping-Pong competition.



DeVito plays Amos, a circus ringmaster and the owner of a giant, Colossus
(George McArthur), not quite as big as Karl (Matthew McGrory), Edward's
giant. Amos likes to lecture Edward with thoughts such as, "You're a big
fish in a small pond; but this here is an ocean, and you're drowning."
Edward works for three years for Amos while getting one clue a month as to
the identity of the woman that Edward saw once briefly in a crowd and fell
in love with. MATCHSTICK MEN's female lead, Alison Lohman, plays the part
of Edward's love interest. Like the rest of the cast, Lohman was much
better in every other movie she has been in.



The movie works sporadically but then falls into another long lull. Burton
seems more interested in the fanciful set decoration that in fashioning a
compelling story. The characters' bad and wavering Southern accents are an
apt metaphor for the movie itself. The accents come and go but sometimes,
as much by accident as by design, they do ring true.



BIG FISH runs a long 2:00. The film is rated PG for "a fight scene, some
images of nudity and a suggestive reference" and would be acceptable for
kids around 9 and up, but most kids will find little to interest them in the
story.



The film, which is playing now in limited release, opens nationwide in the
United States on Christmas Day, 2003. In the Silicon Valley, it will be
showing at the AMC theaters, the Century theaters and the Camera Cinemas.



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