Fantastic tale of a man.

Rating: 9/10 (14 November 2006)

Even though director Tim Burton is best know for his action/fantasy movies with Gothic design, he does know how to do good drama as well. 'Big Fish' is very good proof on that and it hasn't even effected his style, as the story we see in the film is filled with fantastic views and even some Gothic design.
Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) comes home, when he hears that his father Ed Bloom (Albert Finney) is sick and near death. Will hasn't spoken with his father for a while, as he's fed up with the fantastic stories he always tells of his life and Will just want's to know the real man behind all the tales. But Ed doesn't change his mind, he just colors his life story with giants and werewolves and mermaids and witches. But then Will finds out, that there is a certain amount of truth behind the words.
The movie divides between the present, in which we see the relationship between Will and Ed, and the past, in which we see young Ed Bloom (fantastic Ewan McGregor) in the midst of his tales. Steadily we see, how Will becomes to accept his father in the way he is, a man, who has imagined far more grander than it actually was, because he's a natural born story teller, who seeks acceptance of his fellow men by telling his amusing tales.
Without the touch of Burton 'Big Fish' could have been quite ordinary little drama of father and a son. Now it is a bit grander than life, a fairytale of fantasy and reality, in which all parts click together, like finely tuned clockwork.