It's a wonderful lie

Rating: 7/10 (6 February 2004)

Judging by most comments submitted to this forum, this film has become an all time favorite. Coming from Tim Burton, however, the movie doesn't measure to some of his best films at all.
Edward Bloom is a dreamer, a quality he thought he would pass to his son, only to find out that it only causes embarrassment in the young man, who has to go through life listening to the same stories over and over again. Where did Edward Bloom go wrong? That point is never clearly explored by anyone connected to this fantasy. Was it all in Edward's head, or was it real? Well, let the viewer follow the clues and let him arrive at his own conclusion to see if this Walter Mitty of a man really lived the lies his son Will seems to believe he is telling, or did he actually encountered all these adventures in the process of growing up.
The triumph of the film is the casting. Young Edward, played by Ewan McGregor, suddenly transforms himself into Albert Finney, the older Edward. The same can be said of Alison Lohman turning into Jessica Lange. This was a most felicitous event because in most occasions actors playing a younger character don't bear any resemblance of the actor who plays the older version. In this movie this process seems seamless, as far as how uncanny both McGregor and Lohman might look like Finney and Lange at a later stage of their lives.
Since the film is basically about Edward, his wife, Sandra, has very little to do in it. Jessica Lange is totally wasted, or Alison Lohman, for that matter. One would have liked to have seen them more on screen. Billy Crudup, as Will, is fine. Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor are very good playing Edward.