Making tall tales out of reality

Rating: 10/10 (3 July 2005)

My faith in this movie was paid off threefold as I gambled on yet another Tim Burton. After being jarred(albeit effectively) by "Sleepy Hollow" and utterly confused and a little angry from "Planet of the Apes",I could've just let this one slide. But I thought I'd give this one a chance,if for nothing else,the fanciful storyline and the adept casting.
The story segues back and forth between young Edward Bloom(Ewan MacGreggor,cleaned up and un-Scottish here) and old Edward Bloom(Albert Finney,Academy snubbed here IMHO). Bloom is a legend to just about everybody,including himself,not least of which is because he can tell a great story. One of the very few to cut him much slack and is mostly distrustful of his persona is his son,William(Billy Crudup,understated,as usual). Bloom's wife Sandra(a non-aging Jessica Lange,saintly this time)has to straddle the line between being a loving,adoring wife and the hand of reality to her progressively fanciful and bombastic husband. Bloom tells tales about growing up in rural Alabama(wouldn't you KNOW that a film about tall-tales would be set in the South!),and his travails over a period of just over thirty some odd years. This film reminds one of "Forrest Gump" on at least a few levels:one,the larger-than-life recollections of a Southerner,set over the course of the middle twentieth century America and two,the protagonist's belief in true and abiding love. But while Gump sometimes threatened to sicken the audience with its heavy-handed pleasant,painfully simple truisms,"Fish" is smarter in that it sticks with pure story-telling with the trust that the audience will "get" the differences between storied past and dull reality,allowing them to appreciate the wonder rather than get possibly bludgeoned by it. Rather than trying to merely stick a fictional figure in historic situations(a la "Zelig"),the writers and Burton wisely chose to develop an almost "Gulliver's Travels" type of path. Last but not least,one watching this film cannot forget to complement the choice to film the past and present in different lights:the past as bright and dreamy,full of vibrant colors and music;the present as drab,earth-toned reality.(BTW,this doesn't mean I didn't like "Forrest Gump". I did,but I appreciate it in a different way.)
Some strong turns by a supporting cast featuring Steve BUscemi(always good!),Robert Guillame,Danny DeVito and Helena Bonham Carter. I cannot,for the moment,recall who played the Giant Ed Bloom befriends,but he is very effective,both as an awesome and sympathetic character.
Emotionally-based films of fancy can be tricky to keep both convincing AND authentic,but Tim Burton seems at home in this original and beautifully done movie.