It's hard to describe what a wonder this movie is... (spoilerish)

Rating: 9/10 (29 May 2004)

Picture a man in his forties reading a book in his comfortable chair. He's laughing, screaming 'I love it!' and thinking: I will make this into a movie.
This is what must have happened when Tim Burton read Daniel Wallace's 'Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions'. Now, I haven't read it myself, but if it's anything like the movie (and why wouldn't it), I can see why Burton loved it so much he wanted to turn it into a movie.
You see, Big Fish is one big fairytale. And Burton has something going for fairytales. Look at The Nightmare Before Christmas, Sleepy Hollow or Edward Scissorhands. I wouldn't even have been surprised if Edward would have turned up in this wild fantasy story called Big Fish, where stories about midgets, giants, hidden towns, siamese twins and the inevitable big fish make up for one the most touching films ever to be put on screen.
Ed Bloom sr. (Albert Finney) loves telling the stories about his 'adventures' when he was young (Ewan McGreggor). And when he was young, Ed Bloom jr. (Billy Crudup) loved hearing them. But once you hear the same story hundreds and hundreds of times, you're getting bored with them. And when your dad tells them again on your wedding night, you get mad. It's what happens as these two get into a fight, not to speak again for the next three years.
It is at that time that Jr. is about to become a first-time dad while Sr. is on his deathbed, they meet again. And this time, Jr. wants his old man to tell the truth for once and for all, instead of these lies, how amusing they might be.
And they are amusing. As well as touching. Remarkable. Fantastic. Beautiful. I won't go into them too deeply, but they include giants, midget-werewolves and poets slash bankrobbers slash wall-street millionaires. And it are stories about the love for a one-eyed witch and, of course, those really big fish.
But in the end, it's the story of the father and son, of truth, of friendship, and in the end, of love. The way Jr. 'talks' his father into death is breath-taking, exhilarating, it's wonderful. The first movie that almost took me to tears since I saw 'Ordinary People' for the first time about a year ago.
I always wanted to say this: It may be just my very humble opinion, but I have no problem proclaiming 'Big Fish' to be the best movie of 2003.
9/10.