'Big Eyes' painter Margaret Keane on how husband Walter was 'nuttier' than movie portrayal | Daily Mail Online EXCLUSIVE: 'Big Eyes' painter Margaret Keane on how her husband Walter - who stole her work and scammed America - was even 'nuttier' than Tim Burton's movie portrayal Margaret Keane painted the wide-eyed waifs made popular in the '50s and '60s Her husband Walter claimed her work as his own - and kept her locked up while he sold the paintings to celebrities She was awarded a $4m settlement in court in 1986 - but never saw a penny Their story is now the subject of new movie, Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, who have both won Golden Globe nominations Margaret tells MailOnline: 'Walter would have enjoyed every minute of it - all he cared about was being a celebrity' Big Eyes Movie Review Big Eyes Movie Review Theatrical Release: December 25, 2014 / Running Time: 105 Minutes / Rating: PG-13 Director: Tim Burton / Writers: Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski Cast: Amy Adams (Margaret Keane), Christoph Waltz (Walter Keane),

 Krysten Ritter (DeeAnn), Jason Schwartzman (Ruben), Danny Huston (Dick Nolan), Terence Stamp (John Canaday), Jon Polito (Enrico Banducci), Madeleine Arthur (Older Jane Keane), Delaney Raye (Young Jane Keane), James Saito (Judge) For most of 2014, many Oscar pundits assumed that Amy Adams was the frontrunner in the year's Best Actress race.

There was the overdue factor: she has been nominated for five Oscars over the past nine years and lost every time. There was the fact that she had a lead role of substance in a movie scheduled to open on Christmas Day from awards darlings The Weinstein Company. That Adams was playing a real person in a true story was the cherry on top. Everything seemed to align for the 40-year-old whose body of work since her mid-Noughties breakout is stronger than virtually every other actress in that same period of time. The one detail easily missed was that Big Eyes, the fortuitous project in question, was a Tim Burton film. Though among the best-known of directors, Burton has made hardly anything that competed for major honors. From Batman to Alice in Wonderland, his stylish films have regularly been recognized in technical categories. But Burton isn't known for being an actor's director or a prestige director. Even his most highly regarded films that almost fall in line with Academy tastes, like Big Fish and Sweeney Todd, have largely been snubbed by the Oscars and left to settle for Golden Globe contention. Perhaps that track record accurately conveys Burton's prowess, as a filmmaker whose immense technical gifts often taken precedence over his ability to tell a story.

The least Tim Burtony Tim Burton film since Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Big Eyes does not strike you as one of the director's usual, fanciful productions. The cast includes neither Johnny Depp nor Helena Bonham Carter, the visuals are uncharacteristically sunny and natural, and the subject matter is far from Burton's Gothic wheelhouse. We open in 1958 San Francisco with painter Margaret Ulbrich (Adams) leaving her husband. She and her pre-teen daughter Jane (initially Delaney Raye) try to make it on their own. How they'll do that seems something of a mystery; apart from child support, Margaret's only apparent income is from her artwork, which sees her agreeing to sketch children's portraits for as little as $1 (half her standard asking price). It is not finances as much as the possibility of losing custody of Jane that inspires Margaret to accept the spontaneous marriage proposal of Walter Keane (two-time Supporting Actor Oscar winner Christoph Waltz). The charming Walter is also an artist. His paintings of French street scenes are moderately popular, but his true talent lies in salesmanship.

He pays a jazz club owner (Jon Polito) to display both his and Margaret's paintings on the wall of the hall leading to the establishment's bathrooms. A minor scandal between owner and artist drums up some interest in the art. But it is Margaret's depictions of children with large, sad eyes that people want to buy. Walter takes credit for painting the doe-eyed waifs, largely to impress prospective buyers and increase sales. Before long, Margaret's iconic art catches on, aided no doubt by Walter's persuasive nature. By the time the couple is getting rich off mass-produced prints and posters, there is no way to undo the charade: Walter, who is secretly and legitimately a realtor, is the painter and identified as such on everything from newspaper articles to a television show. Margaret is never comfortable with the deception, but she goes along with it. She continues to produce big-eyed paintings in secret while Walter gets all the credit and fame, rubbing shoulders with the likes of such celebrity patrons as Joan Crawford. The truth is even withheld from Jane (now Madeleine Arthur), although she has her suspicions, and creates a falling out between Margaret and her friend (Krysten Ritter).

Eventually, Margaret comes to her senses and does part ways with Walter, with the fiction intact. A year later, relocated to Hawaii and having become a Jehovah's Witness, the real artist of the family decides to reveal the truth, prompting a printed rebuttal, a slander and libel lawsuit, and a scandalous courtroom showdown finale. Big Eyes is written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the duo who penned Ed Wood, one of Burton's best and his only one to win an acting Oscar (Martin Landau took home the Supporting Actor award). Taking their first screen credit in seven years, Alexander and Karaszewski have certainly found an interesting true story that many will not know coming in. Unfortunately, the story isn't much more interesting as a Tim Burton film than it is as a Wikipedia paragraph. Burton's attention to detail and technical components manifests in some appealing period production design and costumes. A scene set on a San Francisco street full of pastel-colored shop signs knowingly wows you with the amount of work it must have required. As always, though, the allure of Burton's sumptuous production values has limits.

At some point, you expect to forget about how the movie looks and just get lost in the characters, story, and drama. That never happens to the extent you hope it will, even with actors as skilled as Adams and Waltz in full command of the screen most of the time. Their scarce, minimal supporting cast includes Jason Schwartzman as a gallery owner, Terence Stamp as a disapproving art critic, and Danny Huston as a journalist whose sporadic narration feels like an addition definitely conceived in post-production. As good as Waltz and Adams usually are, they too often here are saddled with stating the obvious as a master of BS and the accessory to fraud. That Walter is no longer alive enables the script to make him a full-fledged villain, a role that Waltz has regularly relished. But the proceedings are too often lacking subtlety and ambiguity. No matter how true to the official record it may be, the courtroom finale plays like a sitcom, stage or family comedy foray into the Hawaiian legal system. That is certainly not how you wish or expect a Christmas Day-opening movie to end.

As advantageous as the timing is for year-end lists and awards voting, it and the Weinstein backing unfairly elevate expectations to heights Big Eyes can't reach. The movie is too good to ignore and, were it unleashed in one of the first ten months of the year, it'd warrant savoring as a thoughtful alternative to teen-oriented multiplex fare. Instead, awards hopes weigh down on this even in a year in which too few films have genuinely impressed. Related Reviews: Artist Walter Keane made millions - but his wife did all the work | Daily Mail Online comments Walter Keane always said he was inspired to create his extraordinary paintings by the haunting children he saw in the streets of post-war Berlin while he was studying art. ‘In their eyes lurk all of mankind’s questions and answers,’ he said solemnly. ‘I wanted other people to know about those eyes, too. I want my paintings to clobber you in the heart and make you yell, “do something!”’ He also liked to repeat the saying that the ‘eyes are the windows of the soul’. Scroll down for video Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams taking the lead roles of Walter and Margaret Keane in new film Big Eyes For him, they were also the windows to a fortune.

For much of the Fifties and Sixties, the American was the world’s top-selling artist, his famous oils of sad-looking waifs with enormous, often tearful eyes were everywhere. Hollywood stars including Joan Crawford, Natalie Wood and Kim Novak didn’t just collect the originals, they even commissioned Keane to paint ‘big-eyed’ portraits of themselves. RELATED ARTICLES Share Millions of ordinary fans made do with prints for their suburban homes. As with the Mona Lisa, it was said that if you looked at the children long enough, their stares would follow you around the room. The cognoscenti may have dismissed it as sentimental kitsch but what did they know? Walter Keane was a multi-millionaire. One of the 'Big Eyes' paintings Walter Keane passed off as his own - it was actually painted by his wife, Margaret A brilliant showman and tireless self-publicist, the ebullient Walter became a star, a drink permanently in his hand as he sounded off about partying with the Beach Boys, the naked frolicking in the pool of his California mansion and the three girls waiting for him in his bed.

He even became a celebrity spokesman for the world’s starving children...when he wasn’t cruising around San Francisco posing in his white Cadillac convertible. He boasted about his genius. ‘Nobody painted eyes like El Greco and nobody can paint eyes like Walter Keane,’ he told Life magazine. Charging up to $50,000 for each picture, Walter Keane was such a lucrative art phenomenon that even Andy Warhol admitted he was impressed. There was only one problem. Keane hadn’t created a single one of the coveted paintings, indeed he couldn’t paint to save his life. The man who loved to pose for photographers, paintbrush in hand as he put the finishing touch on a canvas, was a complete fraud. The artist was in fact his quiet, dignified wife, Margaret — kept a virtual prisoner in a backroom of their huge home, churning out pictures while Walter lapped up the acclaim and squandered the millions she earned. She finally spilt the beans on one of the most extraordinary frauds in art history in 1970. Even then, her quest for justice and belated recognition took 16 more years as her shameless husband denied everything.

It was to take her turning up in court and challenging Keane to each do a painting in front of a judge and jury to finally reveal who was the Big Eyes artist and who wasn’t. The unbelievable tale has been dramatised by director Tim Burton (himself an ardent collector of Keane paintings) in a forthcoming Hollywood feature film, tipped for next year’s Oscars. Big Eyes stars Amy Adams as the downtrodden Margaret and Christoph Waltz as her monstrous husband. Margaret (pictured) was kept a virtual prisoner in a backroom of their huge home, churning out pictures while her husband Walter lapped up the acclaim and squandered the millions she earned with her paintings Margaret, now 87, has a cameo role as an old lady sitting on a bench. What we know as fact is this: Walter Keane really did study art in Paris in the late Forties. He also visited war-ravaged Berlin. Meanwhile Margaret had been drawing children with big eyes since she was a lonely painfully shy girl growing up in Bible Belt Tennessee. Those images of mournful, doe-eyed children, she later revealed, were reflections of her own unhappiness.

Margaret was eking out a living painting silk ties at fairgrounds when she met Keane at the San Francisco art festival in 1954. He was a divorced estate agent, 17 years her senior. She admits the charismatic Keane ‘swept me off my feet’ and they married the following year. Keane discovered the popularity of Margaret’s early big-eyed waif paintings by accident — using them in posters to advertise a new art gallery he was setting up in San Francisco. The posters were torn down in hours and he was inundated with requests to buy copies. As Margaret signed her paintings with her married name it was easy for Walter to pass them off as his own The pictures soon became hip to hang in local beatnik homes. As Margaret always signed her paintings with her married name — Keane — it was easy for him to pass them off as his, without even telling his wife about his cruel deception. It was only two years into their marriage, that Margaret discovered the truth when a friend of his asked if she painted ‘too’. When she challenged Keane, he fobbed her off. It was just a sales gimmick, he said.

People liked to believe he was the painter as he had created such an appealing backstory about the waifs in Berlin. He asked her to teach him how to paint the children, but he simply couldn’t manage it. To her lasting regret, the timid Margaret decided to keep quiet, even standing beside her husband in interviews and nodding sagely as he described his brilliant creative process. As word spread, the price for an original Big Eyes shot into four figures and Keane opened a new gallery in New York. He and Margaret moved to a grand house outside the city. He left her to paint 16 hours a day as he enjoyed the high life, cheating on her with other women. Even their servants didn’t know what she was doing, tucked away in a studio where the door was kept locked and the curtains always drawn. Margaret (pictured) eventually divorced Walter in 1965 telling a court he was ‘jealous, critical and unpleasant’ Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams taking the lead roles of Walter and Margaret Keane in new film Big Eyes When Walter was away, he would call every hour to make sure she hadn’t gone out. 'I was like a prisoner,’ she said. Walter’s fame soon went to his head.

He would talk about himself in the third person, comparing himself to Gauguin and El Greco as he even suggested his paintings would do for the world’s abused children what Picasso’s Guernica did to expose the horrors of war. Hollywood stars including Joan Crawford, Natalie Wood and Kim Novak (pictured left to right) did not just collect the originals, they even commissioned Keane to paint ‘big-eyed’ portraits of themselves As his wits were increasingly dulled by heavy drinking, Keane didn’t see disaster heading his way — Margaret finally had enough of him. In 1965, she divorced him, telling a court he was ‘jealous, critical and unpleasant’. Now 38, she moved to Hawaii and remarried, this time to an affable local sports journalist who built up her fragile self-confidence, crushed by Keane’s bullying. By then the hype over the Big Eyes phenomenon was starting to fade, in part because of competition from imitators. In 1970, having decided she wasn’t going to lie any more if anybody asked her about the Big Eyes paintings, she finally told an interviewer Keane never painted them.

She challenged him to a high noon ‘paint-off’ in San Francisco’s Union Square so the world could ‘see who can paint eyes’. He didn’t show up, of course. Margaret became a Jehovah’s Witness and says she finally found happiness. Amy Adams as Margaret Keane in Big Eyes - when her relationship with Walter dissolved, Margaret took him to court, leading to one of the most bizarre things to ever happen during a legal proceeding - a paint off She continued to paint her saucer-eyed waifs but now they had smiles on their faces, reflecting her own contentment, she said. Keane, meanwhile, moved for a few years to Europe while the controversy cooled off. He was still painting, too, he insisted. However, rather conveniently, he insisted his recent work had been lost at sea when a ship went down. Tim Burton directs the biopic Big Eyes In 1986, he publicly alleged Margaret had only laid claim to creating the paintings because she thought he was dead. She sued him for libel and met him in court, the first time they had laid eyes on each other in more than 20 years.

Asked why had she kept mum about the deception for so long, she told how he’d threatened to kill her and her daughter, Jane, who also testified on behalf of her mother. Margaret rounded off her testimony with a 53-minute painting she did in court of a Big Eyes child. When asked by her lawyers for a similar demonstration, Keane said he couldn’t, as he had a sore shoulder. The jury awarded Margaret $4 million but Keane quickly claimed bankruptcy. Deserted by his famous friends, he slunk off into the shadows and a life of poverty. He died aged 85 in 2000. ‘Walter missed his calling, he should have been an actor,’ said Margaret years later. Looking at her mawkish pictures today, it’s ironic to think that so innocent a subject matter could produce such a contemptible fraud. Big Eyes is in US cinemas from Christmas Day.

Big Eyes actor Christoph Waltz on Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino and winning two Oscars | Films | Entertainment | Daily Express FILMS Big Eyes star Christoph Waltz: 'Winning two Oscars doesn’t change what I do with my life' THE most important part of the job is to find the specific kind of energy that you’re trying to employ 00:01, Sun, Dec 21, 2014 GETTY Christoph Waltz plays in Tim Burton's new movie, Big Eyes Just a few days have past since the announcement that Christoph Waltz will play the new James Bond villain when I meet the Austrian actor, a double Oscar-winner for his roles in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds and Django Unchained. I ask him how excited he is. On a scale of one to ten. His eyes narrow. “I know where zero is but where is your ten?” he asks me. Hmm. It suddenly feels like I’m in an Oxford tutorial with Blofeld (the legendary Bond villain Waltz is rumoured to be playing in Spectre). “To tell you the truth there is one thing that drives me absolutely insane and that is listings,” he goes on.

“When the year comes to an end all these lists come up. The ten best this, the 100 best that. Why? Most likely my number three is not even on your list at all and vice versa. ”Refreshingly in a universe where we all have to genuflect at the same Oscar-winning masterpieces, Waltz, 58, loathes any kind of cultural conformity. The most important part of the job is to find the specific kind of energy that you’re trying to employ Christoph Waltz “Why can’t we make our experiences and perception of the world we live in more personal? A little more detailed. Any idiot can put a list out on the internet and it will appear on IMDB (the Internet Movie Database). It’s a disaster. So how excited am I on a scale of one to ten? I don’t know if I employ the same scale as you do.” That puts the James Bond conversation to bed then. In any case, Waltz will probably be zapped by Goldfinger’s laser if he divulges anything about Spectre, which began filming earlier this month.

What we’re here to discuss is Big Eyes directed by Tim Burton, a highly entertaining drama based on a bizarre true story about one of the biggest art cons perpetrated on the public. Waltz plays San Francisco-based painter Walter Keane who became famous and very rich in the Fifties and early Sixties thanks to his trademark portraits of waif-like children with fried egg-sized eyes. Revolutionizing the commercialisation of popular art, Keane sold thousands of posters, postcards and calendars. The con? They were actually painted by his wife, Margaret, a vulnerable divorcee with a child (played in the film by Amy Adams) who was seduced by Keane’s charm and salesmanship. The film chronicles their relationship and Margaret’s eventual efforts to be recognised for her work. The climax is a surreal and amusing courtroom confrontation which sees Walter/Waltz performing with gusto. PH The actor in Django Unchained How demanding is it, I wonder, to play someone who is always “on”? In keeping with many of Waltz’s best known characters like his terrifying SS officer Colonel Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds, Walter is an expansive personality with a florid turn-of-phrase.

“Of course it requires a lot of energy,” says Waltz. “Playing a role altogether requires energy. The most important part of the job is to find the specific kind of energy that you’re trying to employ.” As for the language, Waltz’s facility with words and almost musical delivery marks him out as a screenwriter’s dream. It’s surely one reason Tarantino plucked him from “schlocky TV”, in Waltz’s words, to deliver his memorable dialogue in Inglorious Basterds and subsequently Django in which he played a German bounty hunter in the slave-owning Deep South. “We’re all to various degrees dependent on words so it’s an interesting aspect of our existence,” says Waltz who is fluent in German, English and French (and spoke all three in the Tarantino movies). “Language is a passion of mine.” He was familiar with the “big eyes” artwork but knew nothing of the true story before signing on and was reluctant to probe beyond what was in the screenplay. Playing a real person makes him feel uncomfortable even if, as in this instance, that person is no longer alive (Walter died in 2000, broke and bitter).

“It bestows a certain responsibility that an actor shouldn’t have,” he explains. “An actor should have a responsibility to the character and not so much to the real person. An actor is not a biographer. I don’t want to have an opinion about the real person because it puts me in a pickle.” However, he is prepared to divulge an opinion on Walter’s work - or rather Margaret’s. In the film Terence Stamp plays New York Times art critic John Canaday who fulminated at the public’s appetite for such kitsch “hack work”. Says Waltz, who was born in Vienna to an artistic family (his father was a set designer, his mother a costume designer): “I identify with the art critic in that respect. Most certainly.” Walter is another plum role for Waltz following his breakthrough, aged 53, in Inglorious Basterds for which he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar; he won the same award in 2012 for Django. Earlier this month he was honoured with a star on the the Hollywood Walk Of Fame. Did he ever conceive such a level of stardom for himself during his years of largely unheralded work in Germany and Austria?

He studied acting at the Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna and for 35 years worked mainly in German language productions on stage and television. “Of course not. I mean, come off it,” he says. “I might be conceited but I’m not stupid!” Were it not for Tarantino, he says, he would be in Germany doing “classical plays or schlocky TV”. He now lives mostly in Los Angeles with his second wife, Judith Holste. By the Nineties, the long years of relative obscurity had begun to take their toll and Waltz considered alternative career paths. “I must admit frustration set in,” he says. “I was looking for a way out of acting and it wasn’t that easy. Not out of this profession but to start directing or writing because I didn’t feel that I could continue exclusively with acting.

Anyway, that was taken care of by Quentin.” Directing is still something that appeals (he’s directed for German television) but Waltz admits that “it would be kind of preposterous to say I forgo working with one of the masters to be a dilettante.” The directors who have hired him since Tarantino include Roman Polanski (Carnage), Terry Gilliam (The Zero Therom) and Harry Potter supremo David Yates (the upcoming Tarzan). Back to those lists that infuriate him so much. As a winner of two Oscars, does he not have some appreciation for such distinctions? “I’m flattered, I’m honoured but it doesn’t change what I do with my life. I think there’s too much attention given to awards and accolades.” The Oscars, I venture, are a bit like Christmas - spoilt by all the endless fuss beforehand. “You have a point. And you’re talking to probably the biggest enemy of Christmas ever” he admits. It seems a fitting moment to wrap things up. Waltz agrees. “With heartfelt bah humbug we finish the interview,” he chuckles. Big Eyes is in cinemas from Boxing Day.

Related articles Christoph Waltz on 'Big Eyes' and Bond - Rolling Stone Tim Burton on 'Big Eyes,' Beetlejuice and Batman The filmmaker opens up about his new movie, that potential 'Beetlejuice' sequel and critics: ''I don't listen to them.'' But when the 58-year-old star is asked to talk about playing his latest, somewhat less lethal protagonist — the conniving, aspiring painter Walter Keane in Tim Burton's biopic Big Eyes — and specifically, about his initial approach when reading a new script, you can hear a bit of hesitation on the other end of the phone line. The process of spilling the beans about his process is not something Waltz relishes, but he takes a stab at it nonetheless; unsatisfied with the response he's just given, the gentleman apologizes and starts again. He can't seem to find the right words. Or maybe he simply doesn't want to find them. "There is a lot of talk about what actors do and [the] actors' process and all this academic kind of thing, this drama-school talk," he says. "All that shouldn't be discussed in public. I don't know why that's turned into a general interest. It isn't. The story is.

The movie is. The finished piece is. How they got there is really, in my opinion, not the public's business." In fact, the process of creation, and taking ownership for the result, plays a central role in Big Eyes. Waltz's Eisenhower-era bohemian Walter is a failed artist who blithely takes credit for the paintings of his wife, Margaret Keane (played by Amy Adams), as her eerie, oddly adorable portraits of big-eyed children begin to attract attention. The more her/their kitschy work starts to become a mid-century populist sensation, the more Walter begins to slowly assert his dominance over her through intimidation and emotional manipulation. And yet, Waltz also manages to humanize this monster, portraying a ruthless con-artist forever wounded by the realization that he'll never be the real thing — actual talent eludes his oily grip. Waltz is five years removed from his breakthrough in Inglourious Basterds, which brought him to the attention of U.S. audiences after a steady career as a European television actor.

The clout he has now can help get a low-budget project on its feet; Big Eyes had gone through several false starts — in 2008, Kate Hudson and Thomas Haden Church were slated to play the lead roles — but writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood) say that Waltz's interest was instrumental in finally propelling it forward. "Based upon his work with Quentin, Christoph has no fear of [playing] unlikeable at times," Alexander says in a separate interview alongside his co-writer. "He just loves having all the colors to play with.

A lot of the more traditional American leading men aren't really as brave in terms of playing [a character] who may turn out not to be as cuddly as we thought he was." "When we first showed Tim the script," Karaszewski adds, he was like, 'I can't understand why we don't have a hundred people lined up to play Walter Keane — this is the best character you guys have ever written.' But what we found was, those traditional leading guys, they may play an eccentric character, but by the end of the movie, you have to feel like, 'Oh, he's cuddly.' Walter is someone who gets more and more psychopathic as he goes along. Christoph understood that." I tell you all these smart things about how I see Walter — what does it matter? It's not about me. Told of the writers' comments regarding his fearlessness, Waltz laughs, responding, "All I can say is, it's funny that that should come from Larry and Scott, because they wrote the story." With a self-deprecating tone, he adds, "I followed them. I read their script — but they wrote it.

On one hand, everybody says that writers are not respected enough and their work is not valued sufficiently. On the other hand, the actor always tries to put himself first." Waltz adopts an air of puffed-up pretentiousness: "'This is my process, this is my thought process, this is my opinion.' But whatever he thinks about the character — what his morals are, his social context, how he views the intricacies — all of that is irrelevant. The actor is there to translate what's on the page onto the stage or the screen. So I find it important than an actor manages to actually" — Waltz lets out a sigh — "get out of the way. Vanish as a person behind the character, never to be seen or talked about again. That's my philosophy." Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in 'Big Eyes.' Everett It's a philosophy he developed while growing up in Vienna, and studying acting there and in New York, Waltz quickly determined that the character he was playing was more interesting than the perspective he had on him.

Now that he's become a celebrity, the questions about how he achieves what he achieves have multiplied substantially, which only makes Waltz want to, in his words, "demystify the actor" that much more. "I tell you all these smart things about how I see Walter — what does it matter?" the actor says. "It's not about me." The irony is fascinating: Walter is a man with no talent who can't stop talking about how he "came up" with the work he's appropriated and taken credit for. The man who plays him is an actor with incredible chops who doesn't like discussing how he applies them to a part. If he wants to have people focus more on the end result than the preparation, the man has his work cut out for him. Two Academy Awards and now his fine performance here will only continue to draw people to him, intrigued by how he brings such snake-like charisma to magnetic cretins. Talking about Big Eyes is a struggle, but Waltz seems to get a wry kick out of another question interviewers want to ask him lately — what his role is in the forthcoming James Bond film, Spectre.

"I'm being pestered, but it's not a big deal, because there's not much I can be pestered with," Waltz says, laughing. "They ask, 'Can you tell…?' And I say, 'Yeah, I can tell you everything.' Then they get stuck, because they don't really have that many questions to ask. And that's where it ends." Which, one suspects, is how Waltz prefers it. Christoph Waltz - Biography - IMDb Christoph Waltz Biography Showing all 58 items Jump to: Overview (2) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (6) | Trivia (29) | Personal Quotes (18) Overview (2) 5' 7" (1.7 m) Mini Bio (1) Christoph Waltz is an Austrian-German actor. He is known for his works with American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino , receiving acclaim for portraying SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) and bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Django Unchained (2012).

For each performance, he won an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor. Additionally, he received the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of Landa. Christoph Waltz was born in Vienna, Austria, to Elisabeth Urbancic, an Austrian-born costume designer, and Johannes Waltz, a German-born stage builder. He has three siblings. He was born into a theater family, as his maternal grandmother was Viennese Burgtheater actress Maria Mayen, and his step-grandfather was fellow Burgtheater actor Emmerich Reimers. His maternal grandfather, Rudolf von Urban, was a psychologist and psychiatrist who wrote the 1949 book "Sex Perfection and Marital Happiness". Waltz attended the Theresianium and Billrothstrasse in Vienna. Upon graduation, he attended the Max-Reinhardt-Seminar before going to New York to the Lee Strasberg Institute. While in New York, Christoph met his first wife, and moved back to Vienna, then to London. During the 80s, Christoph worked primarily in theater, commuting from his home in London to Germany.

Slowly he began to work in TV, taking one-off roles on series, and TV movies. Film roles soon followed, however, attempts to break into English-speaking film and TV were unsuccessful. Christoph has stated he is grateful to have made a living and supported his family through acting. For thirty years he worked steadily, tirelessly, in this manner. It was not until he met Quentin Tarantino that his career in Hollywood took off. The role of Colonel Hans Landa in Inglourious Basterds (2009) catapulted Christoph from a lifetime working in German TV/film to the new life of an international superstar and Academy Award-winning actor. He won 27 awards for his performance as Hans Landa, including the Cannes prix d'interpretation Masculin for 2009, the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor, the BAFTA Best Supporting Actor award, and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (which he won again for 2012's Django Unchained (2012)).

He also portrayed computer genius Qohen Leth in the film The Zero Theorem (2013), American plagiarist Walter Keane in the biographical film _Big Eyes (2014), and 007's nemesis and head of SPECTRE Ernst Stavro Blofeld in _Spectre (2015)_. In Quentin Tarantino's 2009 film Inglourious Basterds, Waltz portrayed SS-Standartenführer Hans Landa, aka "The Jew Hunter". Clever, courteous, and multilingual - but also self-serving, cunning, implacable, and murderous. Waltz played gangster Benjamin Chudnofsky in The Green Hornet (2011). That same year, he starred in Water for Elephants (2011), Roman Polanski's Carnage (2011), and a remake of The Three Musketeers (2011). He played German bounty hunter Dr. King Schultz in Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained (2012), a role Tarantino wrote specifically for Waltz. Christoph resides in Berlin and Los Angeles. His wife is costume builder Judith Holste .

- IMDb Mini Biography By: and Spouse (2) Frequently works with Quentin Tarantino . Often plays charming but sinister characters Polyglotism Characters often explain their motivations or opinions through long (usually humor-filled) speeches Deep silky voice Is fluent in English, French and German. Is skilled at mimicking Italian speech. Made his stage debut at the Schauspielhaus in Zurich (1982). Is divorced from his first wife, Jackie, a psychotherapist. They have three adult children: Miriam, Leon and Rachel. Studied acting at the Max Reinhardt -Seminar in Vienna and the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute in New York. Son of set designers Elisabeth Urbancic and Johannes Waltz . His grandparents were actors. His son from his first marriage is a rabbi, a daughter from his first marriage is an architect. Lives in London, but his longtime companion, costume designer Judith Holste , and their daughter live in Berlin. Is one of 11 actors to have won the Academy Award, BAFTA Award, Critics' Choice Award, Golden Globe Award and SAG Award for the same performance.

The others in chronological order are Geoffrey Rush for Shine (1996), Jamie Foxx for Ray (2004), Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote (2005), Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland (2006), Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men (2007), Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood (2007) and Lincoln (2012), Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight (2008), Colin Firth for The King's Speech (2010), Christopher Plummer for Beginners (2010), and J.K. Simmons for Whiplash (2014). Was originally cast as Sigmund Freud in A Dangerous Method (2011), but dropped out of the project in order to film Water for Elephants (2011). Viggo Mortensen was later cast instead. The first and, thus far, only actor to win an Oscar for acting in a Quentin Tarantino film. He received Best Supporting Actor for both Inglourious Basterds (2009) and Django Unchained (2012).

His first wife, Jackie, was from New York and Jewish. Despite being born in Austria, he was born with German citizenship (and kept it all his life) since his father was German. Is one of four consecutive Oscar winners in the Best Supporting Actor category whose name begins with Chris, the other actors being Christian Bale and Christopher Plummer . Waltz won twice. Counts Federico Fellini 's 8½ (1963) as one of his all-time favorite films, having seen it numerous times since his teens. As of 2013, he is only one of 6 actors who have a 2-0 winning record when nominated for an acting Oscar.

The others are Luise Rainer for The Great Ziegfeld (1936) and The Good Earth (1937); Vivien Leigh for Gone with the Wind (1939) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1951); Helen Hayes for The Sin of Madelon Claudet (1931) and Airport (1970); Kevin Spacey for The Usual Suspects (1995) and American Beauty (1999); and Hilary Swank for Boys Don't Cry (1999) and Million Dollar Baby (2004). Is the only Austrian actor (born in Vienna) to win two Oscars. He and Marcia Gay Harden are the only two actors to win an Oscar without receiving a SAG nomination for the same performance. He loves opera. His favorite opera composer is Donizetti. His stepfather Alexander Steinbrecher had previously been the stepfather of director Michael Haneke by his marriage to actress Beatrix Degenschild.

In 2013, he won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Quentin Tarantino 's anti-slavery western Django Unchained (2012), where he plays a bounty hunter who opposes the enslavement of the blacks. The next year, he presented the Best Supporting Actress Oscar to Lupita Nyong'o , who won for her performance as a slave in Steve McQueen 's anti-slavery drama 12 Years a Slave (2013). In addition to this, his Oscar for Django was presented to him by Supporting Actress winner Octavia Spencer , who had been awarded the previous year for her performance in The Help (2011), focused on the racism against blacks. He was awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6667 Hollywood Boulevard on December 1, 2014. He is the first actor to appear in the James Bond franchise to have won two Academy Awards. He played the small part of a 'German spy' in the British TV-Movie Goldeneye (1989) about the life of James Bond creator Ian Fleming . Waltz was an unknown actor then. Fleming was played by Charles Dance .

26 years later Waltz would appear in Spectre (2015) in the iconic role of James Bond's greatest villain: 'Ernst Stavro Blofeld'. Along with Christopher Walken in A View To A Kill (1985) and Javier Bardem (in Skyfall (2012)), he is one of three Oscar-winning actors to play a main Bond villain. Benicio Del Toro , who appeared in Licence to Kill (1989) as a henchman of the main villain, won his Oscar after appearing in the Bond film. Similar to Robin Williams , most of the villainous characters Waltz has played have been clean-shaven, while most of the protagonists he has played have sported beards or some form of facial hair. He is the grandchild of the actress Maria Mayen. Is one of six performers to win an Oscar playing a character that mostly spoke in a foreign language (for his performance in Inglourious Basterds (2009)). The others are Sophia Loren , Robert De Niro , Roberto Benigni , Benicio Del Toro and Marion Cotillard .

Personal Quotes (18) [on working in Hollywood] In Europe, everybody would say, "Well, they just want to squeeze you like a lemon." Well, yeah! But, you know, if I have the juice, why shouldn't they? [on being typecast] Nobody's talking about that. I get interest coming my way from many different directions. I'd hate to pigeon-hole myself. The variety is what's interesting. I know what I can contribute. And that's a very limited, very specific unit, whether it's a big movie, a small movie, a German movie, an American movie. That's the advantage I have over a 25-year-old. I've had the chance to understand what it is I do. The one advantage of having grown up in the business is that you don't romanticize it. "Oh, isn't it wonderful?" Blah, blah, blah. No, it isn't! I've never romanticized it. But on the other hand, the conviction, the dedication that you see here, is tremendous. It would be awful if the whole business consisted of grouchy farts like me.

[on advice a dog trainer once gave him that can apply to him as well] The better the dog, the busier you have to keep him. I'm arrogant and blase enough to consider myself a very good dog. You take pride in what you're doing, in your craft, and all of that, but -- I wouldn't say I resigned myself to mediocrity, not at all, but I started to accept that there might be an ideal you strive for (and) never realize. [on the toughest aspect of preparing for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] To put aside what I know about the topic. Because it was irrelevant. Growing up in that area, you don't hear much about the French Revolution or the Egyptians or the Seven Year War. You hear about the Nazi era. But it was irrelevant to the part and unnecessary and would have been a bad obstacle. It's frustrating. Even though I agree with all of you [other actors being interviewed], I have a less romantic and idealistic approach to acting. Over there [Germany], the business is based on mediocrity. On a high level, admittedly, but mediocrity. You reach a certain level, beyond which you will not go.

Not just in career but in challenges and opportunity. It's interesting for the specific issue of how to cope with an actor's life. To lead an actor's life. What do you do if you have a stretch of five years where you only get mediocre offers and nothing to sink your teeth into? That's where it is difficult. Becoming an actor is one thing. Being an actor is entirely different. It's the result that makes the art, not necessarily the process that leads to it. So when Hilary plays Bach, that's the music (but) what you perceive is the art. Is she considering herself as an artist? I don't think so. I think she just puts herself into the craft, into each individual note and ties them together in order to arrive at what the emotion might be. That's one of the biggest problems with the actor. The piece of art -- the person, the performance, everything that leads up to it -- is so difficult to separate from each other. [his Oscar acceptance speech for Inglourious Basterds (2009)] Oscar and Penélope [Cruz], that's an Ã¼ber bingo!

I always wanted to discover some new continent and I thought I had to go this way, and then I was introduced to Quentin Tarantino , who was putting together an expedition that was equipped by Harvey Weinstein and Lawrence Bender and David Linde , and he put this script in front of me and he said, "This is where we're going, but we're going the other way." So Brad Pitt helped me on board and Diane Kruger was there Mélanie Laurent and Denis Ménochet and Bob Richardson and Sally Menke and Adam Schweitzer and Lisa Kasteler . Everybody helped me find a place. Universal and The Weinstein Company and ICM and Quentin, with his unorthodox methods of navigation, this fearless explorer, took this ship across and brought it in with flying colours and that's why I'm here. And this is your welcoming embrace and there's no way I can ever thank you enough, but I can start right now. Thank you. Becoming an actor is like becoming a father. It's not hard to become one. Making a life of it is the challenge. If the advice to 'get out' is too late, then my advice would always be read, go to museums, go to concerts.

Don't learn life from movies or television. [on comedy] As long as you take it seriously, you can do it. But in a movie, because comedy is so much timing and rhythm, all of that is most established in editing. I can say a complete straight sentence, just neutral and straight, and a good editor can turn it into a funny or sad thing. Because that's the beauty of movies, nothing works in itself. [on waiting 30 years to become an overnight success] That was my experience, and it was very frustrating. These false dawns went on for a long time. It feels like someone keeps trying to switch the light on, but the dimmer switch is broken. And then sometimes the bulb blows altogether. [on being a private person] When I was 25, that's when this whole thing got started. My oldest daughter was a little kid. A tabloid reporter called my house. He said, "I hear a child crying. Is it a boy or a girl? What's their name?". I said "I want to keep that private." He said "It's not private." Thats when I decided I didn't want other people to decide what I disclose.

[on Bill Murray ] He was just the nicest guy, he gave me the biggest tips [while Waltz was working as a waiter]. And now I know him: not like as a close friend, but I know him. I really like how he handles privacy. But then Bill Murray is a radical...I'm not a radical. I'm just a smart-ass. [on fame] As a motivation in itself, celebrity is foolhardy and stupid. I do feel I can say - without smugness - that it feels good. I am entitled. I am entitled to judge the situation and say that yes: It feels good, and that yes, I agree with you. I feel like I served my time. I feel like I paid [my dues]. It would be completely laughable if I claimed I was always motivated by the pure craft of acting and that recognition doesn't play a part. Of course it does - that's human nature. The bohemian artist who exists only for his art, it's a myth.

See also Big Eyes - Buy, Rent, and Watch Movies & TV on Flixster More reviews for Big Eyes Flixster Audience Score: 68% Flixster User Reviews Nicki Marie Not at all what I expected from a Tim Burton movie. Quite pleasantly surprised. I had never heard of this artist, so the whole story was new to me. Though not… More Not at all what I expected from a Tim Burton movie. Quite pleasantly surprised. I had never heard of this artist, so the whole story was new to me. Though not exactly thrilling, it was quite interesting and I did find I got quite involved in the outcome. I loathed that husband by the end. Really couldn't stand him. I liked the court scene near the end. Amy Adams is great but unrecognisable. I thought the actress who played her young daughter was also very good.

Carlos Magalhï¿½es It is true that Art should elevate, but this superficial, unimpressive biopic does pander to the lowest common denominator with a cliched direction, uneven… More It is true that Art should elevate, but this superficial, unimpressive biopic does pander to the lowest common denominator with a cliched direction, uneven pacing and serious tonal problems in a ridiculous trial scene in the end that only feels silly and artificial. Mark Hobin "The '50s were a great time, if you were a man". That opening line of Big Eyes sets the stage for Margaret Keane's dystopia. Felt forced to… More "The '50s were a great time, if you were a man". That opening line of Big Eyes sets the stage for Margaret Keane's dystopia. Felt forced to promote a lie that had her locked in a stuffy room. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz dazzle in their respective roles. Margaret painted hundreds of painting that were then sold under her husband's name. And boy did they sell. Margaret Keane captivated the fascination of a public who were drawn to her doe eyed waifs.

But the story also acknowledges the marketing genius of Walter Keane. Art is often a mixture of talent as well as timing. Walter had a charismatic gift of gab. The script presents this all in a most appealing way that eschews the campy derision many have for her compositions in exchange for sincere affection. The mentality succeeds as it made me appreciate her style in a way I had never before. Tim Burton clearly identifies with Margaret Keane and his depiction of her comes from a place of love. I had only a cursory knowledge of her paintings before. Now I have a desire to learn more. With a biography, that's the highest praise I can give. fastfilmreviews.com Gimly M. Watching Christoph Waltz's Walter Keane becoming less and less rational makes for one aspect of good cinema, and it's interesting to see that Tim… More Watching Christoph Waltz's Walter Keane becoming less and less rational makes for one aspect of good cinema, and it's interesting to see that Tim Burton is capable of directing a film that doesn't match the style of every other Tim Burton film out there. But that doesn't actually make a movie "good".

I've already discussed this month that art-centric biopics are not exactly my wheelhouse, so if it's yours, then I won't say Big Eyes is without appeal, but for the most part it didn't work for me. Kevin M. Williams If I were to speculate about what happened behind the scenes when they made this, it felt as if Tim Burton was given a sort of a dare: "you couldn't… More If I were to speculate about what happened behind the scenes when they made this, it felt as if Tim Burton was given a sort of a dare: "you couldn't make a regular film if you tried!" and that this film was the answer to that challenge. Adams and Waltz seem to endeavor to stretch beyond the Movie-Of-The-Week limitations in place but fail, kitsch ultimately winning out over sentimentality. It's a generic film, surprisingly so. Jim Hunter Walter Keane, charismatic husband of renowned painter Margaret Keane, steals credit for his wife's work. Solid performances by Christoph Waltz and Amy… More Walter Keane, charismatic husband of renowned painter Margaret Keane, steals credit for his wife's work. Solid performances by Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams anchor Tim Burton's biopic.

The last combination of Burton and Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Ed Wood, could take advantage of Burton's magical realism comfort zone, but this one is pretty straight-laced, much to the film's benefit; too many Burton tricks would have made the film too cute for its own good. The story, however, isn't that strong. There are too few plot events in the second act that propel the action forward as we're waiting for Margaret Keane to force the film's inevitable conclusion. The climactic courtroom scene and &quot;paint-off&quot; are compelling enough, but it takes too long to get there. Overall, Big Eyes is a good biopic, but it's not tight enough. Aaron Neuwirth Margaret: I painted every single one of em'; every 'big eye'; me. And no one will ever know but you... The chance to see a director switch… More Margaret: I painted every single one of em'; every 'big eye'; me. And no one will ever know but you... The chance to see a director switch gears and focus on something far separated from their previous work can be exciting. As a Tim Burton fan, I do not fault him for making a lot of films that seem right up his alley.

That the recent output has not been as compelling as the films in his past is unfortunate, but now we have Big Eyes, which reteams Burton with the writers of Ed Wood, arguably Tim Burton's best feature film. The resulting product is a smaller scale, more personal story than anything Burton has been involved with in quite some time, featuring two strong, lead performances. It is not an over-the-top fantasy, but a drama that delves into the worth of one's identity. read the whole review at thecodeiszeek.com Walter M. In 1958, Margaret(Amy Adams) takes her daughter and leaves her husband and the sterile suburbs far behind. That is in exchange for the bohemian North Beach… More In 1958, Margaret(Amy Adams) takes her daughter and leaves her husband and the sterile suburbs far behind. That is in exchange for the bohemian North Beach neighborhood of San Francisco where she hangs out with her friend DeeAnn(Krysten Ritter) and paints portraits. While trying to earn a little extra money from her art, Margaret meets Walter Keane(Christoph Waltz), a fellow artist.

There is a good deal of support for "Ed Wood" being Tim Burton's best movie to date. But that comes with a caveat as some of those same viewers cannot decide whether Burton is celebrating or castigating Wood. With "Big Eyes," Burton leaves little doubt as to how he feels about Margaret Keane's art, while pretty much taking critics everywhere to task when it it is not relevant when watching this film what one's opinion of Margaret's art is. In fact, Burton goes so far, that the movie becomes less about Margaret than about Burton himself. That's not to mention a courtroom scene which while potentially accurate is simply too silly to work properly as the climax. In the process, the movie almost wastes valuable insights into marketing, some excellent period details and a superb performance from Amy Adams. Spencer S. When the Oscar nominations were released at the end of last year I was surprised to find that Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" was not on the list, like,… More When the Oscar nominations were released at the end of last year I was surprised to find that Tim Burton's "Big Eyes" was not on the list, like, anywhere.

It seemed like a shoo-in, as it starred a two-time winner of Best Supporting Actor, and a five-time nominee in various acting categories. It was also a bio-pic, which the Academy always favors, and it was directed by Burton in his first bio-pic directorial effort since "Ed Wood." After seeing the film however, it became clear why it didn't get much acclaim. Read more at Nate Zoebl Like most people, Tim Burton is a filmmaker who likes working with a select set of familiar faces. Since 2001, Burton's wife Helena Bonham carter has… More Like most people, Tim Burton is a filmmaker who likes working with a select set of familiar faces. Since 2001, Burton's wife Helena Bonham carter has appeared in every one of his films. Johnny Depp has appeared in every Burton film since 1999's Sleepy Hollow, save for Planet of the Apes. It got to the point where you knew if Burton were attached as director, these two would be riding shotgun. No so fast, as Big Eyes is absent Depp, Carter, other longtime collaborators like editor Chris Lebenzon, and really any noticeable sign that Burton actually was the director.

This bizarre biopic about a scandalous secret in the art world fails to justify more than a casual viewing. In the 1960s, Margaret Keane's (Amy Adams) portraits of waifish children with large, tragic eyes were the most popular art of the decade. They fascinated the public who couldn't get enough, including clamoring for reprints so everyone could have their own Keane work of art. Except the world at large never knew that Margaret had painted them. Her husband, Walter (Christoph Waltz), was posing as the real creator. He appeared on television, ran with famous celebrities, and always looked for the next platform to elevate the Keane name, all while Margaret stayed home and painted. She agreed to go along with Walter's version of events because the public was more accepting of a male painter, and Walter was such a natural salesman. The world could never know the truth. Being a true-life story, there are certain limitations inherent in sticking to the facts while still telling an engaging story, and Big Eyes suffers from this. There is an interesting story here, no doubt, and that is clear and on display when Margaret and Walter square off in court as a majority of the third act.

Before then, the screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt) plays in a very linear fashion, telling the story very conventionally except for the annoying narration of a news reporter (Danny Huston). The reason this character is clumsily inserted into being our narrator is because the real main character, Margaret, spends two acts being so passive and often hidden before she gathers the courage to challenger her husband and expose him. Naturally, there's got to be a realistic character arc where our heroine goes from naï¿½ve and inactive to stronger and active, but it takes most of the movie. In the meantime, she paints and paints and literally hides herself from the world. It feels like the movie forgets about her while Walter is gallivanting around on her fame. Ironically, the movie actually becomes a series of men attempting to tell Margaret's story; the first is her husband but the other is the invented and unnecessary narrator. To make up for the time the film seems to paint a more flattering than deserved picture of Walter. I think perhaps they want the audience to fall under his spell just like Margaret and then slowly come to the same dawning realization.

His initial argument is that female artists are not taken as seriously in their era, and I'm sure there's truth to this. It was generally harder for a woman to be seen as legitimate in just about any capacity other than homemaker in the 1950s. We spend a full two acts with him charming others and hoodwinking the art world. He's portrayed as more of a used car salesman con man than what could be described as a dangerous egotistical drunk who exploits his wife. The movie gives him a few nasty moments but it seems to portray Walter with light judgment, even after he endangers Margaret and their daughter's lives. With Margaret figuratively and literally a kept woman cooped u for so long, Walter's antics starts to come across as vamping, filling time until Margaret hits that point on her character arc to leave him. It becomes tiresome then to just watch Walter sputter and spin his way to greater fortune and fame, though he deserves credit for popularizing the printing of painting reproductions that sell for cheap. Walter Keane, footnote in the art world for commercializing it for the masses.

Waltz (Django Unchained) is an effortlessly entertaining actor and charming cads with a thinly veiled air of menace are his specialty. It's a waste of his talents because Walter is kept as an ongoing mystery rather than an opportunity to explore a complicated character's psyche. We find one falsehood after another, but in the end, he's still just a mystery left unsolved. There is amusement to be had at points as to be expecting when it comes to keeping up a con, almost getting caught, the scrambles to continue hiding the big lie. This fun is at the expense of Margaret, which the movie wants you to think about and not think about at various points. There are streaks of comedy but I'd hardly call Big Eyes a comedy (sorry Golden Globes categorization). Terrence Stamp is enjoyable as a disapproving art critic who cannot believe what Walter is doing or why he is popular. The final act is easily its most entertaining as Margaret finally gets to call out her scoundrel of a husband for his bad behavior. It takes several unexpected turns that seem too fanciful to be true, and yet they are.

The courtroom setting feels right for this script, and if there were a rewrite, I would have used it as the primary setting. The story could be introduced through a series of flashbacks. At least that way we don't have to wait for Margaret to be the strong heroine we need, and we don't have to be constrained by the wait of linear storytelling. This approach would strip away some of the redundancies of the plot and at least allow Margaret an opportunity to be the one telling her story. Another problem with Big Eyes is that at no point does it feel like a Tim Burton film. The man is better known for his dips into gothic fantasy, but in 1994 he showed he could more than pull off a conventional film in Ed Wood. Just because the story doesn't involve weird fantasy characters and violence doesn't mean that Burton cannot still add value being the man to tell that tale. Unfortunately, there is no point while watching Big Eyes that feels like it was directed by Burton. The director could have been anybody. If you kept the identity of the director secret, I cannot imagine more than a slim number of participants accurately guessing who directed the picture.

I wonder what attracted Burton to the script, which does have its share of true-life eccentrics and hucksterism, both appealing aspects for the man. It's just lacking a sense of vision that Burton usually has in spades, even if that vision over three decades has become a tad commoditized. I won't go as far to say the film is poorly directed because a majority of the problems remain with its script rather than the actors or shot selections. Still, Burton doesn't bring much to elevate the material. Perhaps that's a positive, he didn't attempt to overpower the narrative with a superfluous detour in style, but then why hire Burton? Adams (American Hustle) is a consistently good actress and she does her best with the part, but the limitations are even too much for her talents. By no means is she bad but she's playing a passive character often given to worry. She's stashed away fro a majority of the movie. You feel like Adams is acting with one hand tied behind her back. Big Eyes is a movie that intrudes you with its potential only to frustrate you with its eventual execution. The true story behind the film is juicy and outlandish, crying out for the venue of cinema.

The struggle between husband and wife over the ownership of an empire is a conflict that hooks an audience. Thanks to a repetitive plot structure and character vamping, the film limits the heights it can achieve. Burton's presence is not felt at all throughout the film. The comedy often sours when you realize the full context of what's going on, a much more serious affair than the film often wants you to think about. The characters are kept at a distance and given arcs rather than deeper exploration. She will become active and find her voice, fighting for credit. He will be the con man who wants to keep everyone distracted, fueled by jealousy at his wife's abilities. There's more psychological complexity here, but Waltz and Adams are slotted in very narrow boxes. They have little to work with and their performances show it. Big Eyes isn't a bad film but it's one that deserved to be better in just about every regard. It's a fleeting curiosity more than a fully developed film, and that's a shame given the source material. Expect Burton to return back to the safe embrace of Johnny Depp's arms at any moment.

Nate's Grade: C+ Kevin Mozulay Tim Burton avoids another misfire and delivers a relatively entertaining film with a solid ending. Christoph Waltz is great as usual, Amy Adams does well. Tim… More Tim Burton avoids another misfire and delivers a relatively entertaining film with a solid ending. Christoph Waltz is great as usual, Amy Adams does well. Tim Burton's distinct style is here, but it's a lot more subtle than any other movie he's done. Colors pop and it's a visually pleasing movie, as a film about a painter should be. Big Eyes is one of those cases where a film doesn't have any particular flaws, but it probably won't stick in your memory for too long. Bradley Wright Big Eyes was Tim Burton's best film in years, a fun and touching film about pride, lies, and domination. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are incredible in… More Big Eyes was Tim Burton's best film in years, a fun and touching film about pride, lies, and domination. Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are incredible in their roles, truly shining when interacting with each other.

I was just so happy to see Burton bring back that same charm he used to so easily bring us, and Big Eyes did just that.

Question: Who plays the part of Walter Keane in the Tim Burton film 'Big Eyes'. He has won two Oscars for best supporting actor?
Answer: Christoph Waltz