Hunters, fisherman, and other liars

Rating: 9/10 (21 April 2010)

Big Fish is an ocular tale of the embellished stories our parents tell us and that we tell others. Actor Ewan McGregor plays the part of young Edward Bloom, a teenager outgrowing his body and is small hometown. Actor Albert Finney plays the same Edward Bloom as a senior on his deathbed refusing to let go, telling the tales his son won't believe. An all-star supporting cast includes Billy Crudup, the son who won't believe, Jessica Lange, the wife who never leaves Edwards side, as well as Danny Devito, Miley Cyrus, Steve Buscemi, and more. The movie touches multiple times on the fact that like water, life is also seen in different ways at different times in peoples lives. In the summer time, the lake is a place to swim in, but in the winter it becomes the local ice skating rink.
Any one who sees this movie can connect at some point or another with any one of the fabulous variation of characters. Director Tim Burton mixes both theme and use of color, as he has in other films made both before and after Big Fish. Edward Scissorhands is a perspective example as he can be seen as both a monster or a kind, funny teenager without a family. Edward Bloom emulates these action, seeing the quaint town of Spector as a place full of life as a young man and as a desperate broken down town as time goes by. Burton's fills the screen with images of rivers, rain, bathtubs, and pools creating both the fluid life Edward lives. Water sends both Edward's car to the top of a tree as well as makes his son a believer in him. As Burton so fabulously does in his films, he expresses color as an extension of a character. Just as ice melts to water, the dark fades to a beautiful palette of bright life-filled color. On Edwards journey of life he experiences both the dark swamp we all and fields of flowers. Whether in a hometown football game or at the circus, Edwards bright non-stop character mimics the surrounding he is shown in. Edward is both a big fish in a little pond and a little fish in a big pond. Swimming through life and chasing snakes are the adventures he tells. Crossing the country, and the world, is the life he lives. This uplifting movie will be sure to leave a smile on its viewers face.