Very Burton, good anyway

Rating: 8/10 (18 May 2009)

Tim Burton is a weird phenomenon. They say you either love or hate his work, but I tend to do both. "Ed Wood": truly a wonderful movie, one of the best I've ever seen. "Edward Scissorhands": completely unwatchable pseudo-intellectual artsy drivel. I've rarely seen a director that can be so good and so bad at the same time. Either way, "Big Fish" is essentially just "Forrest Gump" with a twist, but I'll put it in with the winners. The concept of a man narrating his life through made-up stories is pretty interesting, and gives Burton the opportunity to create another fairy tale world. They're only stories anyway, he can have anything he wants happen. There are times in which you really want to believe them though, if only it wasn't for the giants and werewolves. I personally think the movie's strong point is the ending, it's a time when father and son finally understand each other. Pretty touching stuff. At no point does this movie ever become truly great (except for Steve Buscemi's performance, obviously), but it's a good watch.