The importance of a good tale... makes a medium splash.

Rating: 6/10 (24 June 2004)

It's all about the importance of a good tale in people's life. We know this from Robert Guillaume's line near the end as he would pick the not-so-truthful, but better-sounding version of the drama surrounding Crudup's birth. Also being the tale about an estranged father and son relationship, the borderline between truth and fiction to both its own characters and moviegoers, provides the movie magic as well as the emotional vulnerability here.
With echoes of 'Forrest Gump', the ambition here is bigger than the final achievement, and I can sense the urge of the film-makers for a longer epic out of this story. Many bits and characters are presented to hold great importance, but are left dangling, annoyingly unfinished, as prodigal director Burton and writer John August shifts tone, narration emphasis and focus too often to hit a bulls-eye. But as pure entertainment it's thoroughly enjoyable and eye-filling as a day at the fun-fair. And the robust performance of Albert Finney as the old Ed Bloom clearly outshines anybody else here, with a much more believable accent than McGregor, too! 6 out of 10 from me.