An Eccentric, Heart-warming, and Overall Wonderful Tale

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2008)

Big Fish is a captivating, imaginative story that is perfect for moviegoers of all ages. It is a great story that chronicles a strained relationship with a father and son.
Will Bloom grew up listening to the wild and fantastic tales of his father Edward Bloom. As a child, Ed was able to captivate his son with these wonderful tales, and even convince him they all happened. As Will matures, he grows to believe that these stories are just an invention of his father's imagination, and he starts becoming tired of them. The final straw occurs when his father takes the opportunity at Will's wedding to share a story of his life with everyone there. This frustrates Will because he believes that his father always has to make everything about himself, even at his only child's wedding. With their relationship too severely strained, Will and his wife Josephine move to Paris. But when Edward's health starts failing, Will feels it is time to come home and see his father before he passes away.
The rest of the movie contains many of the adventures of Edward's life while his son is trying to discover the real truth of his father in hopes of renewing their relationship before Edward dies.
Tim Burton does an amazing job in directing this masterpiece. Unlike most of his films, the story does not have a dark and Gothic tone. Instead, it relies heavily on symbolism and imagery, and actually has a heartwarming story. The acting throughout the entire cast is superb. Billy Crudup does a fantastic job playing the son who feels his father has not been enough of a true father for him. Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney both have wonderful performances as they depict different parts of Edward Bloom's life. Even the original score is wonderful as Danny Elfman once again lives up to his moniker.
Overall, this movie is a wonderful masterpiece. Though it only received one Academy Award nomination for the original score, it is an instant classic and should stand the test of time as such. I highly recommend this for any person who enjoys movies even the slightest bit.