User reviews

"Big Fish" has for reasons beyond me been hailed as a modern classic by many a viewer. The story is about an insane, self-centered chronic, liar (played by Albert Finney), who tells the story of his life to his neglected son (Billy Crudup). Of course the father lies about his life and comes up with a lot of stupid tales about himself as young (Ewan McGregor).

What I don't get about this movie is how people can like a person as reprehensible as Ed Bloom. Not only is he an arrogant S.O.B. who can't talk about anything but himself, he was also a bad father and probably also a bad husband, which is somewhat implied by Jessica Lange's restrained and depressing performance. Also, Ed Bloom seems to get sad every time someone tells him that he's not funny and tries to make him act sane for at least one time in his life. Wait scratch that, first he's sad and then he tells another story. I found it impossible not to hate him. Which is strange because everyone in the movie loves him, and I have no idea why. The only scene I really enjoyed was when he got beaten up.

Some things aren't awful though. The sets and Alison Lohman look great and... Well that was about it. Otherwise this is just two hours of pure horse-manure.

I could ramble on about all the pointless, sugarcoated, sentimental crap that this movie is stuffed with, but honestly I just want to erase it from my mind.

Quite possibly the most overrated movie of recent times.

Eclectic but not useful in any way. So far fetched that it was untraceable.

If people believed this movie touched their hearts or some other part of their body, they may need help.

As one who can handle fantasy and bizarre themes, I was expecting, at least in some part, a movie that could give me something.

My only piece of empathy was with the son who had been lied to all through his life and could not pick fact from fiction. Everyone loves a dad who has a wild imagination and funny stories but here was a kid who still, in his thirties, had never been in touch with his dad at any stage.

And the course of the film did nothing to enlighten him ... or me!

First, I've got to say Tim Burton movies are always visually great to look at, and this is no exception. Unfortunately, the visuals are about the only good thing going for this movie. It feels like it tries too hard to be sentimental and forgets to actually make a good story that's interesting. The stories where just plain boring and didn't seem to have any point other than just to flaunt his visual style and to appeal to the most sentimental of viewers. And this movie wears on you; the longer it goes on, the more it becomes unbearable to watch, which makes the 2 hour runtime seem like an eternity.

I guess people that like their movies mawkish would like this one (which by looking at the IMDb rating it appears that there are a lot of people like that), but I'm not one of them. I expected more from Burton.

I had high hopes for the film as I imagine most people doing seeing as its been getting good reviews.

If anyone could give me back the two hours I just wasted I'd be most appreciative. The stories told were uninteresting and pointless, the characters were paper thin and I was not given the chance, nor wanted in the end, to get to know them and actually care what happened to them.

The acting was good, the cinematography was good but sadly thats where the good bits end. I'll be the first to admit I'm not a massive fan of Burton but even then god knows how he got away with this. It was just totally uninspiring, uninteresting, unengaging and down right boring. The story was predictable and simple with nothing to entice the watcher into he world he was trying to create with each story piece.

Personally I'd recommend watching something with a lot more thought to it, if you like the fantasy type genre then Princess Mononoki is a prime example of great story telling and well executed drive.

Big Fish - 3, and if the actors were bad, then it'd have been a 1. Seriously.

Anyone who has followed Tim Burton's career should be able to see this movie as what it is: the half-assed product of a director well past his prime attempting to recreate and collect pieces of his former films (most notably Edward Scissorhands and Pee-Wee). Throwing shallow rehashes of previous cinematic glories at a strip of celluloid is no way to make a film, but it is a good way to trick a lot of people into thinking they're seeing something of substance (or, dare i say, "genius"). The lack of cohesion is only surpassed by the awkward acting of the father and son leads.

What's most offensive about this film is the heart and sincerity that it tries so hard to put across to the audience through the story, when none of those passions seemed to be present in the people who actually made this epic piece of mediocrity. Tim Burton long ago forgot how to make a good film. His projects of the past ten or fifteen years have felt more and more like the products of a detached assembly line. it's sad that this former, unique visionary in mainstream cinema finally allowed his art to be wholly corrupted by Hollywood and settled on making filmic equivalents to Disney World rides.

Burton has always been a stylist, and his stories tend to work when the style emphasizes/benefits the story. Ed Wood, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, even Scissorhands all work with his perhaps overly designed baroque films.

Sleepy Hollow, Planet of the Apes, and this film are not very well written - the stories are clearly on the back burner to the set-pieces, and his favored casting of HBC in some quirky turn. Big Fish has a potentially very affecting story here - the story of a son trying to understand his father, almost when it's too late, to try to find the "truth" in the lies, and maybe embrace the "love of life" those lies may represent.

But that story is not effectively TOLD here - Burton is more concerned with giants, shoes on a line, Elfman musical interludes, Danny DeVito in weird make-up, set design. People love Burton's "quirky" touches, but quirky touches do not a good film make. Bad casting (McGregor, as good as he is, does not convince as Finney's young self) doesn't help. Finney COULD have gotten an Oscar nomination if he had been directed properly here, but is wasted in a role that should have been his for the taking. The movie, incredibly, doesn't seem interested in his story, or his son's quest.

Much potential, frittered on a soft-headed, overly- and transparently manipulative film that is under-written and poorly executed. Big Fish is beneath Burton's talents, when he's firing on all cylinders.

As an earlier poster says, too many clichés and "Disney"-esque b.s. in this film that is handed to us rather half-assed-ly only makes it seem like a cynical attempt for Burton to have a big and popular hit.

I didn't love Mars Attacks, but at least it seemed more heart-felt.

Okay, it must be me!

Every one else seems to think this film is great but I thought it was

awful. Beautifully made, well-acted but just plain boring.

I like the idea of the tale-telling father and the son who just doesn't

get what his father is all about. Unfortunately, the stories the father

tells all seem to be pale imitations of fairy-tales, all show and no

substance. True fairy-tales have a darkness at their heart, fables

have a moral. The stories shown here just seem to exist simply to

provide the opportunity for nice visuals.

As a time-filler for the under-tens this is fine but as a great

movie...?

Like I said, it must be me!

I'm a big Tim Burton fan, but Big Fish was a huge disappointment. All of the actors did an amazing job, but the story was lacking in so many ways: there wasn't enough Tim Burton imagery, some of the timelines didn't make sense, the development of the father/son relationship was lacking, and I wasn't convinced that I should care about any of the characters. Bottom line on Big Fish: yes, it's pretty because it's a Tim Burton film, but viewers are the big fish for being lured into such disappointing movie.

I found this movie boring. There is no suspense, no real plot. There are a series of loosely connected episodes that don't really add up to much. It is mildly humorous in places and syrupy music plays when anyone cries. It's well acted, but who cares? There are also some puzzling anachronisms, like Buddy Holly and Elvis music during the KOREAN War. There are also some really awful southern accents. Why do Yankees even bother? They don't get it. The humor is sophomoric and often tasteless (an Elephant taking a dump). It was like bad TV. To make the experience even more galling, Loewe's has raised its admission price to $10.25. This movie is definitely NOT worth it. If you are curious about it, wait and rent the video.

I honestly expected more from a relatively recent Tim Burton movie than this one turned out to be. Overall quite unimpressive. Ranging from the poor cast choice for the main actors, to overall weakness of the script and story, the only thing that doesn't make it entirely awful is the fact that some effort was put into creating the scenes for the different parts of the story, but it barely pulls this movie off the mark for me. All in all, the "revisiting" by the son of the stories told over and over by his dad his entire life makes for a predictable, closed story with a weak execution; I'm sure it may have some significance for some people, but it absolutely lacked any sort of atmosphere, magic or feeling, except for a few scenes that actually looked halfway decent.

Overall, an unimpressive rendering of an unconvincing story, with decent acting but a poor choice of cast, some obligatory eye candy, but not convincing, compelling or mood-setting enough to make a difference. A disappointment. Definitely not worth more than a 3/10, almost a 2/10.

Painfully sentimental, this vapid tripe pays homage to Fellini via circus freaks and surreal worlds. The meaningless storyteller redeemed by his stories is a great theme but this film fails to put it to good use. If you liked Forrest Gump you'll like this. The heroic American white male rules despite his inadequacies. The armed bank robbery scene is uniquely warm and fuzzy.

Edward Bloom is unlikeable, particularly the old version who is a chronic liar. I would avoid this film, don't expect an interesting ending.

You can say Big Fish is a queer kind of theme for the great plot and little stories it comprises, but undeniably it is a genuine piece of art that continues to amaze viewers in personal ways for each individual. It is the kind of film that is distinctively moving, special, and special in different, varying ways for different people.

On the surface, it is a son's penetratingly emotional journey to reconcile with his father. It depicts a story that reconnects a parting relationships, and experiences that inspire. The tone is light and easily manages to pull the audience in, without the usual cheesy elements. The film starts and ends with a big fish, and in between are uncountable stories that are intriguingly touching and inspirational.

There are no easy words to describe such a vivid experience that can only be experienced first-hand through directly viewing the bittersweet journey of a man's life and the underlying reflections.

This has to be one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen in my entire life also I am pretty sure that it will be different from what you have seen before. Now given that this movie is directed by Tim Burton that may give away how strange this movie was. However I am someone that did not grow up seeing a Tim Burton movie so when I first saw this I was deeply disturbed. With that being said, this movie was one that just weirded me out too much for my liking. If you like Tim Burtin movies then go right ahead and watch it but if you have not seen a Tim Burton movie then you have officially been told that the movie was weird.