Maybe not his "masterpiece" but a film with real heart

Rating: 9/10 (11 February 2004)

There has been so much hype regarding Big Fish: `It's Tim Burton's masterpiece', `Tim Burton finally grew up', etc. Apparently I'm unclear on the concept of `growing up' since this film is a fairy tale from start to finish, even the scenes set in `reality'. Not only that, it is difficult for me to put a finger on what is the `best' Tim Burton film. If I had to make a movie reference to illustrate the difficulty of executing this task, I would have to call it my `Sophie's Choice'. So while I cannot call it `his masterpiece' in the context that it transcends his earlier work, I can definitively assert that it is indeed A masterpiece.
Big Fish is the story of a man coming to terms with the impending death of his father, and his desperate attempt to find out who his father really is  a task he has been trying to complete for most of his adult life, as his father has told him nothing but tall tales about his life since he can remember. It is a touching and exhilarating story  masterfully told through the eyes and ears of our actors. We are not told these stories in a simple narrative, we hear it for the first (or, sometimes depending on which family member is in the room, not the first) time, and experience it along with that character.
The acting in Big Fish is remarkable. Most of the characters, with the exception of the other members of Finney's family are eccentric and exciting. Circus folk, giants, Siamese twins and residents of a fairy tale town are all enacted delightfully. Lange, as Finney's wife exudes a calm, sweet and quiet Southern charm, despite the fact that we know she is actually emotionally wracked. And Billy Crudup, who plays Finney's son, is both passionate and angry  an adult, yet possibly hoping that the stories he has heard ad nauseum that he is hopelessly irritated by are actually true. The character we see the most in the film is Ewan McGregor, who portrays the patriarch as a young man. He did an absolutely amazing job of it  his energy, innocence and passion are all apparent with something as simple as a gesture or facial expression.
Possible Spoilers
While the story was good and the acting was as wonderful, what really made this movie an instant personal classic was Burton's imagery. The rich circus scenes, the little town in the middle of the treacherous forest that slightly harkened back to his Edward Scissorhands set  these were scenes that were expertly set and blocked. Then add in Burton's flair  the bright colors, the improbable beauty of Carnies, and a field of golden flowers. These are visual moments that are virtually unforgettable. Even the now famous image of time stopping for a moment when one discovers their true love, where he has to wade through suspended popcorn to see that person  Burton has taken the feeling that some of us have and visualized it for us, creating an incredibly touching moment.
I challenge anyone to not even get a sniffle at the end of this film. Sometimes a filmmaker will tug at your tear ducts for the sake of drama and emotion, (Read: Titanic) which usually irritates me because it is usually superfluous in my opinion. I genuinely bawled and felt my heart ache at the end of this movie, and was really wanting an emotional release of some kind, barring full-out blubbering in a packed theater, and not once did I remotely feel manipulated. If people think that Big Fish is Tim Burton `all grown up', that's fine  then I just really hope that he continues his growth and continues this trend. I like his fun movies, and I like his intense movies, but this was a masterful blend of both.
--Shelly