Movie Review: Big Fish
Rated by 1 member
What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that this movie has brief nudity, mild
language, and fantasy peril. Sensitive kids may be upset by the
death of a parent.
Families who see this movie could talk about some of their favorite stories -- factual and fictional. Who tells the best tall tales in the family?
Common Sense Media Review
BIG FISH is the enchanting story of a father and son, but
it's really the story of stories themselves. It's about all
kinds of stories, from the first stories whispered by a father
to a sleepy child to the stories a son tells his father to
comfort him as he nears death. Facts are fine, but some truths
can only be told by fiction, and this movie tells a captivating
tale that is a delight for the eye, the heart, and the
spirit.
Will ( Billy Crudup) believes that his father Edward ( Albert Finney) has used his gorgeously embellished tales to hide his true self. Edward loves to tell stories about grand adventures, always with himself as the hero. After he occupies the center of attention at Will's wedding with one of his favorite stories about -- what else -- the day he tried to capture a legendary big fish, Will can't even speak to him, maintaining contact only through his mother. Will and his new wife move far away, and Will gets a job writing stories that are all facts when he becomes a journalist. Then he learns that his father is dying, and Will comes home to try one more time to know what is true, to feel that he really knows his father.
But most of the movie is not about this (relatively) "true" story of a hoped-for deathbed reconciliation. Director Tim Burton, like Edward, believes that it's the fantastic that deserves our attention more than the mundane. So most of what we see are the stories Edward loves to tell.
The young Edward ( Ewan McGregor), like the hero of a fairy tale, leaves home in search of adventure and finds a giant, a witch, a werewolf, a town where no one wears shoes, a highly unusual singing sister act, and the love of his life ( Alison Lohman as the young Sandra, Jessica Lange as the older version), who happens to be engaged to someone else. There is a breathtaking moment when Edward first sees her at the circus and the world stops. He walks toward her, gently brushing away popcorn -- or maybe it's the stars -- suspended in the air between them.
The ravishing images are marvels, but it's the heart of the stories that will capture you, especially when it all comes together at the end in a moving conclusion filled with connection, understanding, and forgiveness.
Families who enjoy this movie may also enjoy some of director Tim Burton's other inimitably imaginative films, including Edward Scissorhands , Beetlejuice , The Nightmare Before Christmas , and Corpse Bride .
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
