Overly manipulative, poorly written, but PRETTY. Not Burton's best.

Rating: 3/10 (3 October 2004)

Burton has always been a stylist, and his stories tend to work when the style emphasizes/benefits the story. Ed Wood, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, even Scissorhands all work with his perhaps overly designed baroque films.
Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, and this film are not very well written - the stories are clearly on the back burner to the set-pieces, and his favored casting of HBC in some quirky turn. Big Fish has a potentially very affecting story here - the story of a son trying to understand his father, almost when it's too late, to try to find the "truth" in the lies, and maybe embrace the "love of life" those lies may represent.
But that story is not effectively TOLD here - Burton is more concerned with giants, shoes on a line, Elfman musical interludes, Danny DeVito in weird make-up, set design. People love Burton's "quirky" touches, but quirky touches do not a good film make. Bad casting (McGregor, as good as he is, does not convince as Finney's young self) doesn't help. Finney COULD have gotten an Oscar nomination if he had been directed properly here, but is wasted in a role that should have been his for the taking. The movie, incredibly, doesn't seem interested in his story, or his son's quest.
Much potential, frittered on a soft-headed, overly- and transparently manipulative film that is under-written and poorly executed. Big Fish is beneath Burton's talents, when he's firing on all cylinders.
As an earlier poster says, too many clichés and "Disney"-esque b.s. in this film that is handed to us rather half-assed-ly only makes it seem like a cynical attempt for Burton to have a big and popular hit.
I didn't love Mars Attacks, but at least it seemed more heart-felt.