A Beautiful Movie

Rating: Null/10 (12 November 2004)

This Movie is by all definitions a work of surrealism. I love the giant fish ,I love the giant man,the Daffodills and the circus.
The culture and accents of the deep south are charming and spirited,I usually love an honest and brave protagonist that takes on an adventure and takes us all with him. There is not one actor's performance in this film that doe'st fit into the overall feel.This is the kind of movie that one would understandably want to watch once a year for the rest of your life. I do consider it to be surrealism however, I don't mean Salvidor Dali's surrealism , it is very beautiful and magical in it's own right . Burton uses quite a few animal symbolisms ,such as when Danny Divito's character turns into a black wolf and then we hear through the commentary;"I figured that evil is put forth by loneliness and all it really needs is social kindness to be remedied"-I can't quote it exactly-however, we are enlightened when the black wolf becomes playful. I love the creation of the little town called Spectre.And the silly dead pianism of the character by Steve Buscemi as the Poet/bank robber .
The key grip in this film was probably very hard to do and it was done very well-such as the fact that Helena Bonham Carter's character is not only the witch but the little girl Jenny from Spectre all grown up,It is comprehensible ,and covers the span of the protagonist's life time.
Anyone who has the taste for this kind of fairy tale meets mythology will be moved by it's ending,I certainly was,it made me think about my relationship with my own father and his mortality and even my own mortality.Ewan McGreggor is absolutely perfect as the young Edward Bloom,a die hard southern romantic. As for Tim Burton,I'm not sure if he actually wrote this,but it is truly a masterpiece.It's nice to see Burton not wasting his talent on remaking Plant of the Apes etc...(he should stick always to bringing us something new.)
I just wanted to mention one more thing,this is the last movie that Spaulding Gray ever saw in his life.He brought his kids to go see it and said goodbye to them before drowning himself in the East river last winter.I mention this because,If you see this film and YOU GET IT,you will understand that Spauding Gray actually gave his children a great gift to remember him by.