Throughout his life, Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) has always been a man
of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later
years, portrayed by Albert Finney, he remains a huge mystery to
his son, William (Billy Crudup). Now, to get to know the real man, Will
begins piecing together a true picture of his father from
flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
CRITIQUE
Big Fish is
the type of film that Hollywood doesn't really make anymore, or
maybe doesn't want to make. Notably the film is based on Daniel
Wallace's novel of the same name (with the added title "A Novel of
Mythic Proportions"), but with a director like Tim
Burton this film is a joy to watch. A general overview of the film
suggests it's about a father and son who must come to terms after
the elder is diagnosed with an incurable illness.
The script's
structure is a familiar one, a part of the action takes place in
present time while the second part happens in flashbacks.
Screenwriter John August (Go) is able to make the transition from
flashback to present time work well. The elder Edward Bloom is
confined to his bed as he tells his stories. Meanwhile, the young
Bloom gets to do all sorts of different things, most of which are
exciting and some outrageous. However the two storylines are
not well balanced. The flashbacks are consistently more
entertaining, magical, and rewarding. Part of this is due to the
immobility of the action in the present time. With the best things
in the film happening in the flashbacks, the interest in the
situations and characters of the present is lacking.
Ewan McGregor is
perfectly cast as the young Edward Bloom. He carries great
presence and his charm works to his favor. The naturalistic way he
goes about things is what makes his performance a winner. The role
could've been overplayed, but McGregor makes it a memorable one.
The rest of the characters are only moderately interesting. Albert
Finney gives a good performance, but the script doesn't give him
that much to do. Billy Crudup's son character, William, is not
that effective and actually disappoints a little.
Moreover, Helena
Bonham Carter's Jenny appears too late in the story to make much
of an impact, but I liked the story she told William, as well as
the subsequent flashback that follows. The most underdeveloped
character of all is Sandra Bloom, the wife. Jessica Lange does
more with the role than the character gives her, but ultimately
Sandra lacks focus and importance. This is too bad, for the same
thing happens to Alison Lohman who plays Sandra as a youth.
However, I liked
young Bloom's persistence to get to know Sandra, and the way he
goes about this is an elaborate one: He starts working for the
local circus under Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito) to gain information
on her that only Amos can supply. The romance between Bloom and
Sandra is not as fleshed out as it should've been, but I believe
it. Other characters, like poet Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi)
and Giant Karl (Matthew McGrory), are peculiar ones that add the
sort of oddball magic to the film.
Big Fish is a
nice magical tale of almost epic proportions. Some of the stories
or events are clearly out there, but seeing them played out is a
joy. Some of them have good comedic effect, others are simply
peculiar, yet in general the film's humor is nicely achieved and
well deserved. Tim Burton and the production crew make the film
look extravagant. Burton's direction is very good and his eye for
visuals is excellent. Composer Danny Elfman, a long-time Burton
collaborator, creates a beautiful score that evokes the right
emotions. At times it forces the issue a bit, but the score
doesn't intrude.
THE VIDEO
Columbia presents Big Fish in
1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a beautiful transfer with
great picture quality, fantastic and well-saturated colors, deep
blacks, and a great deal of sharpness and detail. The print is
free of scratches or dirt, and no edge enhancement is visible.
Tiny bits of compression artifacts appear, but pose no problems.
Really well done, one of the more finer presentations by the
studio of late.
THE AUDIO
Columbia presents Big Fish in English 5.1 Dolby Surround Sound.
Dialogue is clear and easy to understand. The front speakers do
a very nice job, especially since the film is dialogue-driven.
The surrounds actively reinforce sound effects and Danny
Elfman's wonderful score. There is not a great deal of surround
usage as the soundtrack is located in the front most of the
time. Dynamic range is good, as is positional audio.
THE EXTRAS
This is a really
nice package that for some inexplicable reason is not advertised
as a special edition. The extras start off with a highly
informative and engaging audio commentary by Tim Burton.
This time he doesn't talk in between long gaps of silence.
Instead, he is interviewed and asked questions by an
English-accented fellow, allowing the director to talk more
freely and reflect on a lot of different things (casting,
filming, locations), all of which builds up to Burton's best
commentary to date.
The special
features main menu plays to nice music and is organized into
several categories. The Character's Journey takes the
viewer to three featurettes. Edward Bloom At Large
features nice on-set footage/film clips, and interviews with Tim
Burton, Ewan McGregor, and Albert Finney (only one clip) about
the main character. Amos at the Circus focuses on Danny
DeVito's character and also has an interview with Burton, plus
DeVito. Fathers and Sons deals with the father/son
relationship in the film, and shows interviews with Burton,
McGregor, Billy Crudup, Steve Buscemi, Albert Finney, and
producers Dan Jinks and Richard D. Zanuck. All three featurettes
run a total of 21 minutes.
The Filmmaker's
Path includes four featurettes. Tim Burton: Storyteller
is self-explanatory more or less, but specifically Burton tells
of his work on the film and what he likes to do. A Fairytale
World mainly focuses on the characters and places of the
world created by Edward Bloom's stories. Creature Features
details the film's effects and shows how they were done.
Interviews with some effects people provide commentary over
behind-the-scenes footage. The Author's Journey focuses
on the adaptation of Daniel Wallace's novel. Supported by
several film clips and nice behind-the-scenes footage, the
interviews with Wallace and screenwriter John August are
interesting.
Instead of
watching these featurettes one by one, you can view the film via
Fish Tales, a feature where two different icons will pop
up during the film that take you to the various featurettes.
Finer Points is a trivia quiz hidden within the Filmmakers
Path featurettes, but it can also be selected directly.
Previews (or trailers) for various Columbia titles round out
the special features.
The
111-minute feature is organized into twenty-eight chapters.
The disc comes in an Amaray keepcase with an insert.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I liked the magic and
filmmaking of Big Fish so much so that I was able to look past
the lack of characterization of (important) supporting characters. I
enjoyed Ewan McGregor's performance and the events in the flashbacks.
Sony's video/audio presentation is great, and the special features are
informative, especially Burton's commentary. This DVD is worth a
purchase.
