Rating: 
Summary: Tim Burton does it Again
Review: A wonderful movie that leaves you with a warm feeling and alot to think about!! So many things to differentiate between, that I thought about it alot AFTER the movie. Great cameos and wonderful acting. A story within a story and more. Very worthwhile!!
Rating:
Summary: Far-fetched, funny, fabulous flick
Review: This is one of those truly entertaining movies. If not for the movie's plot, for the stories it tells. And Ed Bloom does have some stories to tell! The adorable Billy Crudup (Will Bloom, Ed's son) was the only plot character that seemed to be missing some depth, but his dashing good looks forgive him for it.Albert Finney plays the elder Bloom, who, though on his death bed, is still very alive. Ewan McGregor is warm-hearted and loveable as the younger Bloom. The admiration between Jessica Lange (the elder Mrs. Sandra Bloom) and Albert Finney is beautiful. I loved the bathtub scene, where she climbs in with him, dress and all. Stop researching this movie, and just go see it. It's that good!
Rating: 
Summary: The Over-Hyped "One That Got Away"
Review: Confession: I'm a Tim Burton fan. His superb visual sense, bizarre sense of humor and unique vision have resulted in such personal favorites as "Edward Scissorhands," "Ed Wood" and the more mainstream but beautifully excuted "Sleepy Hollow." Oh yeah, and he did right by Pee-Wee Herman and Batman. I came to "Big Fish" wanting to love it, encouraged by excellent-to-rapturous reviews. Unfortunately, the melding of fantasy and reality just doesn't work. The fantasy elements are overdone, while the reality segments are underdeveloped. This central conceit of the film works against it, as does the erratic casting - I didn't believe for one second that Billy Crudup was Albert Finney's son, an insurmountable problem for me - Jessica Lange is wasted, and only Ewan McGregor is both properly cast and impressive in his performance. The finale, which aspires to be tear-inducing, falls flat because we never really see Crudup's character going through the process of coming to terms with his imperfect father - he just does a final-reel turnaround to provide a forced "audience-pleasing" and predictable finale. Chalk this one up with "Mars Attacks" as a Burton misfire - ironically, the bigger a Burton fan you are, the less you are likely to enjoy "Big Fish," while those turned off by Burton's eccentricities will probably relate to the superficialities of this film. Three stars for craftsmanship and McGregor.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Fish brings Big Results
Review: Tim Burton's most anticipated movie has finally arrived. Fans from all over have flocked to go see this movie when it was only released in limited theaters. But now, it's open nation wide and everyone can have a chance to see this movie. But is it worth the wait...and the cost of your money? Albert Finney plays Ed Bloom; a man who has spent most of his whole life telling stories to everyone he meets. Everyone seems to get a big kick out of the stories except for his son, Will Bloom (Billy Crudup). Ed becomes very sick and this illness causes Will to come back to his father. Will then struggles with his father to seperate fact from fiction and find out who his father really is. The movie is told mostly through Ed's stories and Ewan McGregor plays the young Ed Bloom. Jessica Lange stars as Ed's wife, Sandra Bloom, while Alison Lohman plays the young Sandra Bloom throughout the stories. After seeing this movie, I was just in awe at how incredible this film was. The movie is very emotional and definitely not for everyone. Big Fish starts out kinda confusing and almost a mess. The movie starts right away in the stories and your swept into them with no plot and wonder, "What's going on?" The one reason why the movie still has audiences watching and not leaving, despite the flaws, is because of the visuals. It's a good thing Tim Burton directed because to be honest, I don't think any other director could pour enough imagination and heart into this movie like Tim Burton did. Through the visuals, one can see that Mr. Burton cares deeply for this movie and it's characters. The visuals can go from being creepy (very much Burton style), to being simply beautiful. The movie has excelled in it's breath taking appearance. The acting is so-so except for two that stand out among the others. Mr Finney is extraordinary as the father who is relentless in telling his stories. This is a difficult character to play because this is a man who likes to be the center of attention but yet he has to be a character that you still care for even though he is selfish in his ways. Mr. Finney hits the character right on, and you find yourself loving Ed Bloom and always wanting him to be on the screen, much like the other characters wanted him in the film because of his stories. The other standout is Mr. Crudup. His performance of the son who can't stand his father or his stories is so human that you feel like you know this guy. Mr. Crudup is very careful in his acting in making sure he doesn't overact during the emotional scenes but yet, stay human and provide us with warm comfort as we can understand and relate to why he would feel sick of his father and his stories. Big Fish consist mostly of Ed's stories and at the final ending is where everything comes together. Throughout the entire movie there's not much of a plot, but it keeps you there because of the visuals, and then at the end is where everything comes together. The ending is so pleasing and glamourous that it makes the entire movie worthwhile. The ending is what truely turns this film from a good movie into a great movie. It's so charitable and memorable of the importance of a father/son relationship that it had me crying. Everything was tied together and I found myself cheering and clapping at how incredible this film was. Big Fish is definielty worth the money. This is a film about a father and a son and the relationship between the two. Though the movie begins like a man stumbling through the fog, it ends like a man standing in a field of beautifully grown yellow flowers, simply marvolous. Big Fish has produced an emotionally big result.
Rating:
Summary: The Dreamer
Review: The tension between Reality and Fantasy, Truth and Lies has always held a particular fascination for Tim Burton: "Edward Scissorhands," "Batman" for example and now, "Big Fish."
In "Big Fish" though, Burton is after something more common to all of us, more human than a man with wings or a boy with scissors instead of hands, he's after the most enduring and difficult of all relationships a man will have in his life...his relationship with his father.
Ed Bloom (Ewan McGregor as the young, Albert Finney as the old) is a dreamer, a storyteller and at times a buffoon who has managed his relationship with his son, Will (Billy Crudup) by telling fascinating and wondrous tales instead of being honest and straightforward. Is Ed avoiding the truth or merely embellishing it? And by doing so is he attempting to teach Will something more real and enduring than the factual retelling of the truth?
The acting here is first rate, though McGregor seems to be building a career based on the same gee-whiz note of late. What happened to the alternative McGregor of "Velvet Goldmine" and "Trainspotting?" Jessica Lange, in her role as Ed's wife and Will's mother, is glorious: she is the repository of all that is good, truthful and faithful...she is our dream mother and wife.
"Big Fish" loses steam in the middle section and could be cut by about 10 minutes but the final scenes bring everything back in focus and the last scene between Ed and Will is a doozy: cathartic and emotionally available.
Rating: 
Summary: a far-ranging fantasy
Review: "Big Fish" is a chick flick about male characters. Many will find this mixture of tall tale and reality, strangely unsatisfying in spite of good acting performances turned in by Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, and Ewan McGregor. The women are relegated to very minor roles and their characters are barely fleshed out. The story of Edward Bloom, a "social person", and a storyteller who embellishes the truth at every turn. The movie revolves around a series of flashbacks, some believable, others fantastical. Bloom's son struggles to find the real man behind his father's ever-changing smokescreens; he wants to connect with his father while there is still time, before Bloom's terminal illness claims him. "Big Fish" will doubtless fall into the "love it or hate it" category. This reviewer did not find a great deal to love.
Rating:
Summary: A modern day Walter Mitty
Review: Tim Burton's "Big Fish" is one of the more interesting movie going experiences I have had in some time. The movie is well casted and acted, with the pacing and direction perfect. Don't look for a complex storyline or big plot twist, because this movie really does not have much of a plot. What it does have is a lot of heart, and characters you will enjoy spending 2 hours with. Edward Bloom(Albert Finney) is dying. As his son Will(Billy Crudup)comes to visit, Edward recalls lots of stories from his youth, about how he met his wife, his son's birth, different experiences he had, jobs he held, and so on. Edward as a young man is played by Ewan McGregor. His son has heard it all before and is upset because it is all make believe. He hates that his father continues to fabricate these lies. But the stories are magical and captivating. Will's wife soon falls under the spell as she hears the stories Will has endured his whole life. Every fisherman can tell a story about the "big one" that got away, hence the title of the movie. The end of the film is not so much a development of the plot as it is a confirmation of it. We suspected what we see, and we are happy with it. James Thurber would have been proud.
Rating:
Summary: A Post-Modern Movie about Narrative Formation
Review: If you have ever wondered what post-modernism is, go watch this movie. As the movie progresses the son slowly begins to understand that what makes something real is not it's historicity (whether or not it really happened). Reality is rather formed by the stories that the father tells his son. Excellent story and worthy of your time and money!
Rating:
Summary: Come Home
Review: Centered around the town's and cities where I have spent my entire life, Big Fish has cast its spell upon me; weaving through my imagination. It tells the story of a young man trying to find out whom his father really is. He has speant his entire life hearing stories of illustrious fables surrounding his dad's life, but when a heart attack brings them both to their knees, his son wants to know the truth. What follows is a journey which lover's of great stories must take. There are witches, haunted houses and trail's with living trees, giants, too-perfect towns in the center of a dismal swamp's with so much more to discover. There is love which literally stops time and commitments that are forever sealed. This is all just a taste of what you will experience. It is a wonderful story, that will survive through history as a classic, mark my words. This is a sure-fire film drizzled with magic and tales that aren't so short. It will remain as one of my favorites - there is no doubt. ~s.a.o.s.~
Rating:
Summary: Good story
Review: Every once in awhile I go the the theater to see a movie that I normally wouldn't see on the big screen (waiting instead for it to come out on dvd) and this was one of those times. My nephew is a fan of Tim Burton so off we went to see Big Fish. I had no idea what to expect, so no way to get let down, and I was pleasantly surprised with the show. Basically a feel good, father-son story, this isn't a flick for those looking for action packed fasted paced story. It is something I'd normally wait to rent and while I recommend seeing it, it's hard to give a strong buy recommendation as the story, once told, is hardly exciting enough to see again. That said, I do recommend this movie, it has a strong message to send about life and love and the relationship between parent/child. It is about forgiveness and letting go and also about seeing things from another viewpoint.
| 
