Here's something for you
guys to do -- listen very close to Billy Crudup's voice
while he is narrating. He sounds exactly like the
gentleman from the Mastercard commercials -- hell, who
knows, he may be. That said, now I will delve
headfirst into my review of the most imaginative and most
entertaining film of the year. It is not the best
film of the year, mind you, but damn close. Based on
the novel by Daniel Wallace, and filmed almost entirely in
my home state of Alabama, it is directed by the mind who
brought us films like "Edward Scissorhands",
"Beetlejuice", and "Batman" -- Tim
Burton, of course.
The film centers around the character of Edward Bloom
(played as a young man by Ewan McGregor and as an old man
by Albert Finney). He has spent his life telling his
son, and everyone else who will lend an ear, fantastic
stories about adventure, suspense, and the unbelievable.
While on his deathbed, his son Will (Billy Crudup)
attempts to decipher the fact from the fiction, in an
attempt to better understand a man he feels he has hardly
known. The majority of the film is told through lush
and creative flashbacks that have Edward Bloom doing
everything from befriending a dog eating giant (Matthew
McGrory), to enlisting as a carny, under the employment of
a ringmaster/werewolf, played by Danny DeVito.
Jessica Lange co-stars as Sandra, the love of Edward's
life. Steve Buscemi plays a poet/bank robber/Wall
Street millionaire, and Helena Bonham-Carter is the old
witch with a glass eye that will show each person who sees
it just how they are going to die.
This film is all about honesty. Will Bloom does not
believe that any of his father's stories are real and
feels his whole life has been a lie, one big charade.
However, Edward insists that his life has been just as he
has told it, hardly ever relinquishing the vision he has
given to his family. By the end of the film, we come
to realize, that Edward Bloom might be the most honest
person in the world, and we come to learn the difference
between a lie and an embellishment. On this journey,
we encounter one of the most fantastical cinematic trips
in a long time. At some points, the film seems like
a fairy tale, which it essentially is. Other times,
it seems like a comment on human nature. What Tim
Burton has done is taken a very comical and very colorful
book and brought it alive like never before.
The performances in this film are also something that
drives it to excellence. Finney carries the film,
and I would not be at all shocked if Oscar does not come
knocking. McGregor also does extremely well with his
role, but it was Billy Crudup who surprised me -- he seems
very different than he did in his previous roles, and
there is something in his performance here that makes me
suspect he might be very near breaking out into uncharted
success. The remainder of the diverse cast,
especially DeVito and Buscemi, help add color, humor, and
interpretation to the stories. Hell, by the end of
the film, we feel like we can recite most of the stories
by heart.
"Big Fish" is one of the best pictures of the
year, and I certainly expect some Oscar nominations to be
forthcoming. I would suggest possibly McGregor or
Finney for Best Actor, Crudup for Supporting Actor, or
maybe even Buscemi for Supporting Actor, if he had enough
screen time. I do not know if Burton will receive
his dues as director or if the film will make a Best
Picture nod, but my hope is that it will. This is
the kind of film audiences want to see, the kind of film
critics love to see, and the kind of film that stands the
test of time, much like any other fable or fairy tale.
"Big Fish" is whimsical, hilarious, touching,
and the masterpiece Tim Burton has been searching for --
highly recommended and highly adored.
