Unforgettable

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2009)

He is one of Hollywood's greatest visual artists, but until I saw this I wouldn't have said Tim Burton was much of a storyteller. Big Fish gives us the best of both worlds, story and visual splendour. The movie is not just one story, it gives us four or five. Although it is set up a little like Forrest Gump and occasionally bears resemblance to the Wizard of Oz, the film has a life of its own. Funny, touching, adventurous, and low on clichÃ©s, Big Fish is a tale of near perfect proportions.
This is the story of Edward Bloom from Ashon, Alabama. A town hero, he befriended a fifteen foot giant, worked three years at a circus, won the heart of his dream girl, became a war hero in Korea, ran a successful interstate business, and saved a town from bankruptcy. Bloom was everything that a man could ask for. Except one thing, he was not an honest father. Since growing up, his son Will has hated his father's guts, because he has told him nothing but stories, and not one truth. It has been twenty years since they last spoke. Will is living in France with his wife, but one evening he receives a call from his mother asking him to come visit. His father is dying.
This pretty much summarizes the intro. The rest of the movie cuts back and forth between the story of Ed Bloom's life and the present day, where Will is trying to re bond with his father in the remaining few days he has.
Big Fish is a carnival of color shape and size, which is what you would expect from Burton, but here it is at its best. I'm surprised it didn't receive an Oscar nominating for set design. The movie acts as an ode to storytelling and imagination. Its intentions are noble, and its morals are universal. There is something for everybody in Big Fish.