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After a string of mediocre movies, director Tim Burton regains his footing as he shifts from macabre fairy tales to Southern tall tales.
Big Fish twines in and out of the oversized stories of Edward Bloom, played as a young man by Ewan McGregor (
Moulin Rouge, Down with Love) and as a dying father by Albert Finney (Tom Jones). Edward's son Will (Billy Crudup,
Almost Famous) sits by his father's bedside but has little patience with the old man's fables, because he feels these stories have kept him from knowing who his father really is. Burton dives into Bloom's imagination with zest, sending the determined young man into haunted woods, an idealized Southern town, a traveling circus, and much more. The result is sweet but--thanks to the director's dark and clever sensibility--never saccharine. Also featuring Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito, and Steve Buscemi.
--Bret Fetzer
DVD features
Somebody smart produced the director's commentary track for
Big Fish; they brought in an interviewer to keep Tim Burton on track, thus avoiding those moments when a director gapes silently at his movie, grasping for some fresh thought. This sense of control, however, fosters a somewhat corporate atmosphere, which also infests the typically fatuous featurettes about "The Character's Journey" and "The Filmmakers' Path." Which is not to say they're a waste: Ewan McGregor is simply the most charming man in the world; the various beasties in the movie are technically interesting; and there's an interesting bit about the author of the book and the screenwriter, usually two of the most ignored figures in cinema. There's also a mildly diverting trivia quiz about Tim Burton's earlier movies.
--Bret Fetzer
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