An immediate classic that works on both a visual and emotional level

Rating: 9/10 (10 February 2006)

The grass is so green / The sky is so blue / Spectre is really great ~ Norther Winslow
Tim Burton is a director famous for his visual style, but his storytelling abilities have always been a bit...off. Classics like Edward Scissorhands and his two Batman films are memorable not for the stories they told so much as the flair with which they were told. With Big Fish, this is not the case. With his father Edward (Albert Finney) just away from death, Will Bloom (Billy Crudup, Almost Famous) returns home to finally set the record straight. Sick of being upstaged by the old man's tall tales, the father and son have suffered a falling out, and before it's too late, Will wants the truth.
Through flashbacks, we see the stories the old man's told a million times (here played by Ewan McGregor). He's a high school sports star; he rids his town of a troublesome giant; he stumbles upon the paradise town of Spectre; he works a beat-job in the circus. The main thread through all of them: love, in the form of Sandra, played by Alison Lohman in her early days, and Jessica Lange in the latter ones. Each sequence more unbelievable than the last, Burton brings his visual flair to a story that would have worked without it, and there are few Burton films for which this statement hold true. The result is his most touching and effective film.
OVERALL SCORE: 9.2/10 = A
A tough call on whether or not this is Burton's best film, as his filmography is so deep. But rest assured, it's up there. The cast is rock solid across the board, but Steve Buscemi steals the film as poet-turned-bank-robber Norther Winslow. Big laughs and heart-felt drama, the movie works on both a visual and emotional level. An immediate classic.
Roses are red, / Violets are blue... / I love Spectre. ~ Norther Winslow