Exquisite; Burton's best film

Rating: 10/10 (11 June 2007)

"Big Fish" is one of the most thrilling, amusing and emotionally compelling films I've seen this past decade. It's also, in my opinion, accomplished director Tim Burton's best film so far. The film struggles to illuminate one of the most significant questions of philosophy: "What is the measure of a man?" In doing so it never becomes pedantic, an impressive feat considering the titular "Big Fish in a small pond"  Ed Bloom (played alternately at different life stages by Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney)  is as self-absorbed as they come. At times his over-sized ego is the source of his charm  as when he convinces friendly Giant Karl (Matthew McGrory) to leave his small Alabama town by offering to leave with him: "you think this town is too small for you? Well it's too small for me too!". At other times it becomes oppressive, a source of deep division between the father and his son Will (Billy Crudup)  as when he spends much of his son's wedding telling tales of his OWN adventures or when he angrily tells his son that it's his own fault if he can't understand his father. Part of the film's genius is in the fact that it's able to draw us into Ed Bloom's tall tales and fill us with wonder and joy at the man's sheer joy-of-living, while at the same time gradually bringing our sympathies more in line with son Will's. And all of this before it takes both the audience AND Will through a series of experiences that synthesize the two. After all is said and done, after all, sometimes the greatest truth lies in fiction.
For the most part, each actor in this film provides a memorable characterization. With its narrative constantly in flux between mythical past and dreary present (Ed Bloom is in the process of dying while son Will tries to discover the truth about his father's life), casting of the lead roles could easily have killed the film, but happily there is sufficient synergy between the 2 story structures to make us believe these are the same people and at the same time make the distinction between "real" and "fantasy" more than simply a matter of nifty special effects. For example, the resemblance between Ed's wife Sandra (Jessica Lange) and her younger self (Alison Lohman) is so great that when I first saw the film I thought it was the same actress using makeup effects. But the directing and acting are of such discriminating skill that we can easily see the difference between the "girl of his dreams" and the woman who made the hard choices necessary to actually live with this man. Lange absolutely nails the profound mixture of sadness from losing a loved one while at the same time giving thanks for all the joy that their life together has brought them. As with all things in this film, the difference between the dream girl and the "real" woman ultimately don't matter at all.
I can't let these comments go without at least briefly mentioning some other exceptional aspects of the production. Danny Elfman's music usually rises (i.e. "Pee Wee's Big Adventure") or sinks (i.e. "Planet of the Apes") to the level of Burton's work, and happily this film is no exception. Philippe Rousselot has provided us with haunting images that will never fade from memory, and is equally adept at Ed's fantastic and colorful mythology and his drab later life. Danny Devito is perfect as a shady showman with a dark secret, and Deep Roy is memorable as well as his best friend. Finney and McGregor are both an absolute joy to watch  no more to say about that, just watch them. On first viewing I thought Crudup was relatively weak, but the more I see it the more fitting his performance seems. Yes, he does seem to underplay most of his scenes and lacks a certain presence on screen. But it's perfect  if he were being portrayed by an actor like Hugh Jackman or Tom Cruise it would make it hard to see the profoundly different personalities of the extravagant father and his down-to-earth son.
Well, that's it  I'd be lying if I said that everything in the movie makes perfect sense to me, but it just feels right. It works. Like Ed Bloom's stories, it has justified its own existence (and how many big budget films even come close?) simply by telling its story.