“The story of my life”

Well I finally went to see Big Fish! And it was a whopper. I mean, you could chalk this one up as the one that got away but it is more likely to swim around in your mind for weeks to come. After landing this big fish and cleaning it and cooking it up for supper, I felt that it would be good let it flop around for a while before whacking its head off with a hatchet.

So, here is why Big Fish is good, great, a quality movie with only a few instances of naked bottoms being shown, and why it is a gazillion times better than Cold Dead Lifeless Soulless Heartless Worthless Mountain. First of all, Ewan McGregor does an excellent job playing Young Edward Bloom. He does a decent job of having a southern accent and oozes smiles and determination and sappy charm. Alison Lohman is okay as Young Sandra Templeton/Blom, but I found her to be kind of… how shall we say… ‘not really in the movie much’. Albert Finney is excellent as Senior Edward Bloom and as such deserves a nomination of some sort for his performance. Billy Crudup is Billy Crudup, nothing new, he’s not bad but he’s not dynamic either. Jessica Lange is good for the bits that we get a window in on her character as Senior Sandra Bloom… again, not in the movie quite enough I think. And then there’s Helena Bonham Carter who plays a witch and a woman. And let’s not forget Steve Buscemi, one of the reasons that any movie can become instantly better because he is in it. The story was fascinating and definitely full of wonder and adventure and imagination. One of the overall criticisms I’ve heard most for the film is that it doesn’t break out enough and explode with that imagination. Which I will agree with. Now, don’t get me wrong, the film is gorgeous, well-filmed and full of color. But I do get the sense that there was potential here that was not quite fully realized along the way. Pity. All those things aside, Big Fish is definitely a great movie and one that merits being seen multiple times at that. I particularly love the theme of the value of the life of one man, and the many other lives that it touches and how because of this one person, so many things are so very different than they might have been without him. Ciao.

Big Fish

lead acting: 9/10

supporting acting: 7/10

story: 8/10

directing: 8/10

production design/value: 9/10

overall score: 8.2