Big Fish - Movie Review
This movie about the misunderstanding between a son and father. And the stories that lie between them. I must say I did enjoy Ewan's "southern" accent. It was very quaint. I enjoyed this film, it made me laugh and cry.
This is the story of a young man who is faced with two life changing events. One is that his father is dying of cancer and the other is that his own son is fixing to be born. When the young man, Will (Billy Crudup) is told his father demise is eminent, he and his wife fly from France back home to Alabama. All his life Will has been told the "stories" of his father's life which he has discounted as fantasy because they were so outrageous. He feels like he has never known his father and he wants to find out the truth of his father's life. All he has ever known was that his father was gone a lot (as a traveling salesman) and that his father told him stories. Stories that he felt cheated by when he found that they were false. The film revisits the stories of Edward Bloom (Will's father) and in the process brings understanding to Will about his father, and perhaps about himself. And just maybe it brings to light the fact that we never know as much as we think we do about other people's lives.
I found this film fascinating. The stories are brought to life with vivid detail with Ewan (young Edward narrating) much of it. The cinematography was great, the plot wonderful and the script perfect. It runs over two hours and I didn't even notice! The acting is great. I couldn't have picked a better cast myself.
The story of Edwards life seems like a veritable American Myth, a tall tale so to speak. Its brought to life by vivid almost dream-like excerpts craftily slipped into the present as Edward the elder (Albert Finney) tells the stories. They are dark and creepy as called for or light and airy. They conform to the times with changing dress and hairstyles. Very well done.
The plot is done great, the young man from a small town making it in the world and finding his true love. That plot should be very very trite, but amazingly its not. Somehow this rehashed story garnish by the fish tale that it is works and works well. The script is done well, not of the dialogue seems forces or cheesy even in the more poignant moments between father and son.
The picked a wonderful cast, Ewan Mcgregor (here I am probably biased--he stole my heart in Moulin Rouge and just kept it) plays Edward when he is young--the focus of the stories. He is great as the handsome, charming, charisma filled young man that Edward was supposed to be in his youth, a great people person he is called. His face is open and honest. Albert Finney plays the elder Edward. The story telling semi-gruff old man that everyone loves. The perfect grandfather figure (reminds me of my grandfather cept Edward's stories are better than my grandfather's stories). Billy Crudup plays Will. The cool aloof son who doesn't know his father and feels lied to and abandoned by his father. These emotions all seem to play out across his face. They truly do not understand one another. Jessica Lange plays Sandra Bloom, Edward's wife. She does a wonderful job in her role of the love of his life that seems to understand both the father and son. There are a couple of cameos that you will recognize. Steve Buscemi as a poet that Edward meets and Danny DeVito as a circus ringleader. All in all, good cast and good acting.
This is a great "Big Fish" story. Its a story of understanding and miscommunication. Its a story of growth and story of emotions. Its a story of family. Its funny in parts and sad in others (bring that tissue). I loved it, everyone should see this film.