Plot
A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.
Release Year: 2003
Rating: 8.0/10 (195,813 voted)
Critic's Score: 58/100
Director:
Tim Burton
Stars: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup
Storyline The story revolves around a dying father and his son, who is trying to learn more about his dad by piecing together the stories he has gathered over the years. The son winds up re-creating his father's elusive life in a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts he knows. Through these tales, the son begins to understand his father's great feats and his great failings.
Writers: Daniel Wallace, John August
Cast: Ewan McGregor
-
Ed Bloom - Young
Albert Finney
-
Ed Bloom - Senior
Billy Crudup
-
Will Bloom
Jessica Lange
-
Sandra Bloom - Senior
Helena Bonham Carter
-
Jenny - Young
/
Jenny - Senior
/
The Witch
Alison Lohman
-
Sandra Bloom - Young
Robert Guillaume
-
Dr. Bennett - Senior
Marion Cotillard
-
Josephine Bloom
Matthew McGrory
-
Karl the Giant
David Denman
-
Don Price - Age 18-22
Missi Pyle
-
Mildred
Loudon Wainwright III
-
Beamen
(as Loudon Wainwright)
Ada Tai
-
Ping
Arlene Tai
-
Jing
Steve Buscemi
-
Norther Winslow
Opening Weekend: $207,377
(USA)
(14 December 2003)
(6 Screens)
Gross: $122,919,055
(Worldwide)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia:
Young Edward becomes a traveling salesman for a company that sells hands with metal tools as fingers, all held together by a plastic base. The crew were aware that people would draw connections between it and
Edward Scissorhands, and therefore purposely did not include scissors in the design.
Goofs:
Anachronisms:
In the scene where Sandra is hanging laundry, right after she learns of Edward's apparent death in the war, and right before he re-appears, she is hanging a sheet on a clothes line. A satellite television dish is clearly apparent on the house past her and to the left, right above the laundry basket on the ground.
Quotes:
[first lines]
Young Ed Bloom:
There are some fish that cannot be caught. It's not that they are faster or stronger than other fish, they're just touched by something extra.
User Review
How to create your own legacy...
Rating: 8/10
I often find that in order to be captivating, a film these days needs to
be
stressfully suspenseful or have a complicated story line. This film had
neither, and yet I found myself hoping it wouldn't end while at the same
time, anxiously awaiting its conclusion. I have to admit, I was
distrustful
of Burton as many of his more recent films have had less-than-satisfying
conclusions. Nonetheless, I went to see Big Fish (3 days before its
release
in Canada) with no expectations and was astounded.
This movie is an absolute treat for our hearts, ears and especially our
eyes
with each cartoon/fantasy-like scene painted with Tim Burton's reliable
brilliance and magical touch.
Ewan McGregor is pure sunshine and Albert Finney gives one of the
greatest
performances of the year- he *is* Big Fish.
But I suppose that when you strip away the beauty, the doll-house sets
and
all the abracadabra of cinematography and modern day technology, all you
have is a very simple story, and therein lies the heart of this film;
that
one can create their own legacy, "the story of my life." Not through
either
extreme of extraordinary adventure or unbelievable lies, but through the
art
of storytelling- and THAT is what this film is about. It is through our
*stories* that we are immortal.
Go see this movie, bring the kids, bring your date, bring your parents!
It
is for everyone...everyone who appreciates a visually and emotionally
beautiful irregular story about a regular person's life.
0