Big Fish (2003) Review

"My father talked about a lot of things he never did and I'm sure he did a lot of things he never talked about."

The legends aren't all true, but they aren't all hokum either. Like Albert Finney's character, the movie indulges in a tangent or two too far to avoid even a patient audience's exasperation, but it does finally cinch it all together with an ending that pays off the whole tab. It certainly wants to coax a certain reaction out of you. Is it a little manipulative for the emotional gut-shot only to not last much past the credits roll? Perhaps, but I'm not an easy customer to get teary-eyed.

Burton's thumbprints are all over this one as shots bounce between the highly saturated pastel brightness of a Willy Wonka's chocolate factory and the muted tones of a gothic horror. Ewan McGregor's southern accent sounds like it was borrowed off of a high-school stage, but this isn't the sort of story where that's that big of a deal.