Rating: 
Summary: This movie was GREAT!!!
Review: This movie was a mixture of cute, comical stories while dealing with a very serious issue. The stories were great but the main idea of things might be a little too deep for children under 13. all in all it was a touching movie with a good sense of humor. a great movie for a wide variety of viewers.
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Summary: An English Major's Dream
Review: A friend told me this movie was an English major's dream. She was right. It was filmed on my husband's college campus (Huntingdon) and around where we live. A friend of ours even appears in one corner fo the screen. It's the back of his head, but hey! I enjoyed the story. It kept me glues to the screen, not wanting to break for the bathroom. I am pregnant, so watching an entire movie without a bathroom break means the film was riveting. A must see!
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Summary: So Big It's Hard to Wrap Your Arms Around...
Review: Well, I guess I would say that this film is one small step for Burton but one large step for post-modernism in film. (Post-modernism being a reaction against the rationality, supremacy of facts, easy answers, simplified thinking, "the norm", etc. of scientific modernist thinking)By that I mean that Burton has added a new piece this his distinct collection, and this piece might be found lacking. I fully agree with Thomas Bumbera's review below. Bumbera brings up really good points, and his analysis is thorough. The storyline was a bit choppy, and some characters were so flat I thought the breeze would knock them over. HOWEVER, I was so enraptured by the film that I think that such criticisms (which are usually important to me) fall by the wayside. What Burton has done with this film is visionary and new. And, while it does have problems, I think that's maybe due to the fact that he's simply one of the first in a new frontier. What's so new about this film? I think Burton (using his already acknowledged unique genius) is the first to fully embrace post-modernism in a many-leveled manner using a variety of dimensions available in film. I've seen several other films that have taken shaky first steps into the post-modernist world - "Chocolat" challenged the norm as far as morals; "Magnolia" loaded itself with complexity, pain, and hard realities; "Adaptation" pulled out all the stops in screwing with the logic & chronology of the movie plot. However, these forerunners in the post-modernist era fall short of what Burton accomplished. He takes you through Ed Bloom's unbelievable stories in a world that looks very similar to our own. But, rather than just exist in this fantastical world, he challenges you to reconcile it with "the real world." Did any of this happen? Was the old Ed Bloom ever like his very endearing younger self? Were these stories a cover-up for affairs that he had while gone? Was this man simply an egomaniac? Your one ambassador in this mind-bending investigation is Ed Bloom's son, Will Bloom, because he is the rational mind trying to separate fact from fiction. He says everything you would say if you were given the assignment to figure out who Ed Bloom was & what was true about him. (And because of the need for this son's character & the emotional complexity he brings to the storyline, I am willing to forgive some choppiness and unnaturally speedy character development.) As you and the son investigate the facts behind the story, you find that you tire of the son & his investigations. Rather, you long for more of his father's adventures, which are full of unexpected people, Burton-esque places and understated intelligence. If Burton uses this boredom with reality like I think he is, then this is one example of his many-leveled approach to develop his attack on rationality. Personally, I became a committed fan of the film when the son, Will Burton, is interviewing Jessica Hill. Both her character & story are well-done, but what she represents is a key to the puzzle. I loved the dimensions she adds to what "makes sense". Like the rest of the movie, she unveils a logic existing in the fantastic that is in some ways superior to cold, dry scientific logic. I think what Burton introduces the audience to is somewhat akin to what Catholics call the mystique and mystery of God. I was very taken by this post-modernist exploration.
Rating: 
Summary: "Big" Fun
Review: THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, 2004 (SNEAK PREVIEW)--Tim Burton is a director of staggering imagination and visual talent, and "Big Fish," his latest film, certainly displays that. A vast improvement over the vastly empty "Planet of the Apes" (2001), this is the sweet story of a grown son going home to reconcile things with his dying father, who is prone to spinning wild tall tales. Of course, most of this film's entertainment value comes from Burton's visualizations of these charmingly oversized anecdotes, and they play out with a magic rarely found in Hollywood anymore. However, the film never really gets a chance to touch greatness, thanks to the less-involving "real world" scenes and a slight tendency towards tampering with our emotions. The climax, though spectacular, makes this too clear. All in all, though, "Big Fish" is a lovely, good-natured piece of filmmaking, well worth the money...and in this time of pricey tickets, that's a huge compliment.
Rating:
Summary: completely astonishing!!!!!
Review: I've been a really big Tim Burton fan for a very long time. I love all his movies. Before I hit the theater, I know the movie was going to be a father and son one.....,but a weird one. The imagination of Tim Burton has been captured on film for all his films. The way he makes the movie all dark, and just....amazing at the same time is amazing. He is like one of my favorite director of all time, Better than Spielberg. This is a father and son movie and I would understand if someone cried during the film. I felt like crying. This is like the first really great fairy tale in year's...!!! What surprised me the most is that Rogert Ebert hated this film. As which Richard Roeper liked it. I guess Ebert got a little nuts since Siskels gone. Don't listen to Ebert, listen to Roeper.
Rating:
Summary: Pure eye candy
Review: I will have to admit that "Big Fish" wasn't high on my list of movies that I really wanted to see. I went to see the film with some friends this afternoon. Much to my surprise I loved the movie from the wonderful casting of Ewan McGregor, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, and Helena Bonham Carter to the vibrant colors of the film. Billy Crudup plays Edward Bloom's (Albert Finney) estranged son Will who comes home because Edward is dying. Will wants to try to learn the truth about his father because his father had a reputation for telling tall stories. He wants to get to know his father on a personal level. Based on the Daniel Wallace novel (another book I need to read now that I have seen the film version), director Tim Burton weaves a tale that weaves back and forth from the present moment/reality to the past/fictional(?). Tim does a wonderful job of melding the past and present together. I never thought that Helena Bonham Carter was remotely attractive but I have to admit that she looked beautiful as Jenny, a friend from Edward's past. Alison Lohman looked convincingly as a young Sandra. She did look like Jessica Lange but younger. I loved Matthew McGory as the gentle giant Karl as well as the Chinese twins Ada and Arlene Tai as Ping and Jing. I didn't really think that Billy Crudup had much depth (maybe the depth of a dixie cup) as Will. I guess Tim could have cast someone much worse than Billy, like Billy Zane for example. Otherwise the rest of the ensemble cast in the movie put in outstanding performances. I also loved Steve Buscemi's character Norther Winslow and his transformation which I won't give away. I thoroughly enjoyed "Big Fish". There wasn't a single moment in the movie that I didn't enjoy. I didn't realize until the film first came out that Albert Finney played Daddy Warbucks in the film version of "Annie". I haven't seen Albert Finney in the movies in years. He looked quite different in "Big Fish". Just thought I would share that piece of information.
Rating:
Summary: Plotless
Review: Don't go see this movie for the plot. It falls far short of its goal. See the movie because it's Tim Burton and is absolutly beautiful. The stories are what make the movie. The actually present day plot is trite.
Rating:
Summary: Strongly recommend
Review: I saw Big Fish in the theater last week and fell in love with it. You get wraped into the stories and feel like you're living through them yourself. What made the movie so outstanding was the ending. Absoluteley love it, my friends and I all walked out with tears in our eyes, and we were not alone.
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Summary: Big Fish also has a big heart
Review: Director Tim Burton brings his wonderful imagination into this lively, fantasy-drama. The film is about the wonderful life of Edward Bloom, whose wonderous tales may be a little far-fetched, but enjoyable none the same. When Bloom is on his death bed, his estranged son Will goes by his side but can't hide the fact that he thinks his father's stories are fabricated, and not knowing who his dad really is. The film goes off to a slow start, but once the audience delves into Bloom's stories, including meeting a monsterous, but friendly giant, the viewers get hooked to the determined Bloom. We also found out how he met his sweetheart, his exploits in a traveling circus, his successful business with a idealized southern town, and encountering a very big fish. The wonderful cast includes Ewan McGregor who plays the young Bloom, while Albert Finney plays the dying elder. The supporting cast is also great. Tim Burton knows how to get the actors' performances right, but also the fact he lets us view his vivid mind into making this complexed film. "Big Fish" is a sweet and filled with heart. Highly reccommended film.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful
Review: I really was not expecting this type of film from Tim Burton. Not to say it did not have Tim Burton written all over it, it did. Usually his films are so much in the fantasy realm with no peep of reality to them. This time, he did have a real situation combined with the very heavily laden fantastic unreal stories of a man who ultimatly is the BIG FISH.<- of course not really, but one will understand once they have seen the movie. This definatly is a good date movie and one that should not be missed. I found it refreshing and very sweet.
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