COLUMN: ‘Fish’ is fun
When I say “Big Fish” is a great movie, I realize that I’m only speaking on behalf of a certain segment of the population. While this is certainly a tame film by Tim Burton’s standards, it’s still a Burton movie, and it won’t fit the style of many moviegoers.
But nuts to them.
“Big Fish” is a lot of fun. It chronicles the exploits, told mostly in flashback, of a man named Edward Bloom (Albert Finney, the guy who played Ebenezer Scrooge in the 1970s musical “Scrooge”). Bloom has taken ill, and is coming to grips with what’s left of his life in the presence of his son Will (Billy Crudup, lead guitarist guy in “Almost Famous”). Will is skeptical of his father’s seemingly exaggerated adventures, which the film recounts through their conversations. Bloom describes his small-town upbringing, the courtship of his wife (Jessica Lange, of “King Kong” remake fame), and his periodic adventures with a traveling circus.
All of these stories are told with the zany flair Burton used in past films like “Edward Scissorhands” and “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” a kind of “touching macabre,” you could say. The movie features lumbering giants, spooky witches and surreal visuals. But this time around the oddness is downplayed a bit, and the more heartwarming elements are emphasized. Much of the film can be boiled down to the love story of how Bloom met, courted, and married his wife.
In fact, the love story provides one of the most unique bits of the film. In the flashback stories, Finney and Lange’s characters are played by Ewan McGregor (young Obi-Wan guy) and Alison Lohman (the supposed 14-year-old in “Matchstick Men”), and it is amazing how much they resemble their older counterparts. It forms a genuine connection between the flashback scenes and the present-day segments.
But regardless of look-alike status, all of the actors do a fantastic job with their roles. The movie is brimming with personality and likeability. Besides the primary characters, Helena Bonham Carter (of “Planet of the Apes” fame, Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch version) excels as a mystical witch whose story runs through the film as a primary subplot. And Danny DeVito turns up as a circus ringmaster.
My only gripe is that I had managed to go 27 years without seeing DeVito’s backside, and now the streak is over. Those uncomfortable with bum shots might be wary of “Big Fish,” since Burton has made up for a lack of them in his previous films.
But cheeks aside, “Big Fish” is sure to be a favorite for long-time Tim Burton fans, and it might actually win over some folks that didn’t get “Beetlejuice.”
Joshua Terry is a graduate student in the American studies program. He can be contacted at jterry@english.usu.edu, or visit his personal Web site at www.planetvenison.com.