04/12/09 - Big Fish

Big Fish (2003, 125 min)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/

I really didn't quite know what to expect with this movie. I had heard it described as Forrest Gump meets Tim Burton. While it lived up to that, the movie was more than just that and really can't be summarized so simply.

The elements of Forrest Gump are all here: the narration, the fantastic stories that are all separate from one another, and the complete loss of realism. Tim Burton's take makes the fantastic even more fantastic and the less believable even less believable. At first the inclusion of giants and witches with powers seemed stupid and I didn't like it. But as the story progressed, it became natural and I accepted it all.

The main characters are the young Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) and his son William Bloom (Billy Crudup). Both are great and extremely likable. Edward Bloom is the immensely likable man capable of doing everything and William Bloom is the son upset at his father for always telling these fantastic stories that cannot be true. Both are convincing. The allotment of other characters are also memorable, but are naturally second-in-line to these two leads.

The film is one of those that builds and builds and builds to the conclusion. We don't know how it should end. When William Bloom provides his ending, it seems like that's what should happen, but what we also know cannot happen. None of Edward Bloom's stories are real anyway. But then the true ending is practically exactly what William Bloom told. So was everything Edward said true all along? What really happened? The point here I figure is that the line between fiction and reality is so very very thin that it's hard to tell one from the other. It's done amazingly well here.

Overall, I gave the film an 9/10. It was amazing. But it just lacked some little push, some little something. I can't quite put my finger on exactly what I thought was missing, but there was. However, what was shown was quality and recommended to see if you haven't already.