[rating=3]

Tim Burton Lite…

The Plot: Ed Bloom (Albert Finney) is on his deathbed. Throughout his life Ed has had a tendency to neglect the world’s harsh reality and immerse himself into an imaginary world, full of idealized fantasies. His son Will (Billy Crudup) wants to hear the real story of his father’s life, without the lies. The film transports us to Ed’s past, when he was on a quest to conquer the world. On the way young Ed fights off jumping spiders, encounters the girl of his dreams, works in a circus, fights in the war….

It’s no secret that Tim Burton is not a great dramatic storyteller; he’s much more of a great visual artist. His plots – “Beetlejuice”, “Mars Attacks”, “Planet of the Apes” – are semi-intelligent at best, while the script and acting also come second to the one characteristic Tim Burton does not lack: visual creativity. Each one of the contemporary auteur’s films has a distinctive visual style. In “PeeWee’s Great Adventure” huge bicycles roam a wondrously colorful city. The original “Batman”‘s Gotham City never looked better – The Joker, and the sequel’s Catwoman and Mr. Penguin remain much more efficiently realized than the following character duds (Robin, Mr. Freeze, Two-Face, so on…[review written before the ingenuous "Batman Begins" and "Dark Knight"]). Johnny Depp’s hands in “Edward Scissorhands”, the B-movie stylization of “Ed Wood”, the headless horseman in “Sleepy Hollow”, hell, even the apes in, ahem, “The Planet of the Apes” – all of Tim Burton’s films have an underlying visual creepiness to them, a little something that is both fascinating and disturbing.

“Big Fish” is Tim Burton holding his horses. It’s separated into two parts, and one of them clearly demonstrates that he is not plot savvy: despite the great Mr. Finney, the drama is overblown. The director’s readiness for full-throttle visual attacks seems a bit strained. Sentiment runs through the film, as does the sappy soundtrack from the usually-stellar Burton mate Danny Elfman, and the whole thing culminates in a stretched out final act, which sort of works in the context of the film’s dramatical narration, but may disappoint fans expecting 100% Burton.

The performances are all decent. Albert Finney (who saved ‘Erin Brockovich’ from utter boredom), as the father confronted by his son but insistently denying reality, does a splendid job. His character, Ed Bloom, barely moves, strapped to the deathbed, but there is a sparkle in his eye, which reveals an internal awareness that, though his stories aren’t true, they kept him going just fine. Ewan MacGregor is solid as the young Ed, if not resembling the older version of himself at all. Billy Crudup is always reliable, but is struggling here with an underwritten part.

Burton annoyingly keeps switching between the grim reality and the fantasy world: in Ed’s dreams the magic is unleashed, the fierce freakiness of images bringing to mind another Edward cutting his face with long metal hands. A giant, a werewolf, asian siamese singers, a bloody mouth in a sea of yellow tulips…The images are dazzling, but we are constantly and rudely awakened from the pleasant fairy tale. Burton keeps reminding us that ‘it’s all just a dream’, yet he isn’t masterful enough a storyteller to equally engulf us in the dreary reality.

Tim Burton remains a great visual storyteller, and his primary focus should be on telling a story with images, rather than actual dramatic development. He really shouldn’t bother attempting to raise serious, reality-based questions in his films. If viewers want existential drama, they watch Bergman. When they see a Burton film, they expect full-throttle craziness.

Bottom Line: Sparsely startling images intertwined in the uneven narrative and solid acting prevent ‘Big Fish’ from slipping into Hollywood schmaltz. It isn’t subtle, the messages are hammered into your head, and the ending is stretched out, but it will keep you entertained nevertheless, perhaps with a little twinge of disappointment in the great director.