Big Fish

[Stephen Gallagher]

Just seen the new Tim Burton. Pretty well uncategorisable, but very watchable and entertaining. If I had to summarise/evaluate it, I'd call it "Jonathan Carroll lite" -- a young man travels to be at his dying father's side and tries to reconcile the tall tales heard throughout his childhood with the father's true biography, which means that the father's life is told in Burtonesque, fantastical flashbacks.

I think it would like to be thought deeper than it actually is. The message -- which I take to be that emotional truth needs something more than the bare facts to make it live in the listener's heart -- is never quite achieved, although the shot falls pretty close.

I'd love to see Burton tackle THE LAND OF LAUGHS. Decent though BIG FISH is, that would be twice the film.

[belilah]

I think Big Fish is great. And I'm really sad that Oscars didn't show any interest (except Elfmans music).