Sometimes we try too hard...

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2014)

That was a lovely surprise. Another film on my Watchlist that I eventually got round to watching on a lazy day, not expecting much, but expecting something. But not what I got.
I guess I wasn't expecting the fantastical element - the flashbacks to a past life full of carefree and wondrous adventures. On the other hand, being directed by Tim Burton and with a cast including Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi, Albert Finney and Helena Bonham Carter, what else was there to expect? A straight story told my an old man to his straight son, in a straight up-an-down past? Hardly at all.
A well put together story in the vein of Forrest Gump - not quite at that epic level, but still a fascinating and endearing narrative, calmly told and full of hope.
There was nothing cheesy or overly exaggerated about a film which, in reality, is just a fabricated tale of events. Think about the Chinese twins at the end. Did you expect them to be joined at the hip, or not? I have no idea how much is true, exaggerated or completely fabricated. But I don't have a problem with any of that.
Is there an underlying message to this story? Will I be thinking about it in starts and fits in two or three days time? Probably not, but it's still a lovely film.