Big Fish [2003]

Good fantasy movies are so rare nowadays. They’re either pretentious and slow-moving indie productions or crappy mainstream blunders. Tim Burton directed this great and heartwarming movie, finally making a great fantasy movie.  It’s full of weird characters that somehow seem strangely familiar. He took the ordinary situations and turned them into something surreal and fantastic. Centered around larger-than-life Ed Bloom and his adventures, you could say that Tim went a bit style-over-substance, but at least this is Tim, so we know that the style will be very likable. Especially when the subject is death of a loved one. On the other hand, when dealing with a movie so carefully crafted as this one, there are always unintended concepts that could be interesting to ponder. Especially when it comes to characters and their choices.

The story follows the fantastical life of Ed Bloom, a very positive and strange man. He tells his story to his son, and as always he adds a bit to get the story more outrageous and breathtaking. From circus to World War II and other events in his life everything is just covered with a veil of fantasy. The cast is perfect, and the movie has great production values so expect some really great and visually impressive effects, as for the story goes, it is truly heartwarming and beautiful. Ultimately, Big Fish is all about that “joie de vivre” tied together with our childhood, family and finally the thing that awaits us all, death.

Director: Tim Burton

Cast: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Steve Buscemi

Fun Facts: Steven Spielberg was attached to this project and wanted Jack Nicholson to star, but dropped out due to his full schedule, soon after which Tim Burton signed on.

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IMDb Link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/