Big Fish (2003)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers (WGA):

Daniel Wallace (novel)
John August (screenplay)

Release Date:

9 January 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance

Tagline:

An adventure as big as life itself.

Plot:

A story about a son trying to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths his father told him about himself.

Plot Keywords:

Father | Dying | Legend | Flashback | Giant Man

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 32 nominations

Cast

Ewan McGregor	...	Ed Bloom - Young
Albert Finney	...	Ed Bloom - Senior
Billy Crudup	...	Will Bloom
Jessica Lange	...	Sandra Bloom
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Jenny - Young / Jenny - Senior / The Witch
Alison Lohman	...	Sandra Templeton Bloom
Robert Guillaume	...	Dr. Bennett - Senior
Marion Cotillard	...	Josephine
Matthew McGrory	...	Karl the Giant
David Denman	...	Don Price
Missi Pyle	...	Mildred
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Beamen (as Loudon Wainwright)
Ada Tai	...	Ping
Arlene Tai	...	Jing
Steve Buscemi	...	Norther Winslow

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference.

Runtime:

125 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS (8 channels)

Certification:

Netherlands:MG6 | Brazil:Livre | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Malaysia:U | Spain:T | South Korea:12 | Philippines:PG-13 | Germany:6 (f) | Sweden:11 | Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Hong Kong:IIA | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:NC-16 | Singapore:PG (cut) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Zurich) | Norway:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG-13 | Iceland:L

Filming Locations:

Alabama, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Young Edward Bloom is seen wearing a tie featuring a graphic reminiscent of the spiral hill of The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Tim Burton picked it out of the tie selection the costume designer offered him.

Goofs:

Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Edward Bloom infiltrates the "North Korean" concert there are multiple languages being spoken (not just Korean). These languages include Mandarin, Cantonese, and Tagalog. However, this is done deliberately in order to obfuscate a reference to any country/war in which Ed might have been. Ed is old enough to be a veteran of WWII, but he is fighting the Chinese, who would have been allied with the US at the time. This is simply to let the audience know that the war is not WWII nor any specific war but is symbolic of all wars. Note: the translation book Edward reads on the plane in simply entitled "English to Asian".

Quotes:

[first lines]
Young Ed Bloom: There are some fish that cannot be caught. It's not that they are faster or stronger than other fish, they're just touched by something extra.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Twice the Love

Boy Who Cried Wolf!! (Werewolf!!)

"A BIG FISH in a small pond!!!" the phrase applies to a typical local yokel who better not leave his sequestered Podunk town or else he is in for a rude awakening!!.. Venturesome as though he may be, Ed Bloom leaves his Mayberry, joins the circus, and decides to fall in love...True love comes along less than once in a lifetime...The intuition for true love in this movie is succinctly illustrated through a dark angled idealism, and suddenly, problems with falling in love are romanticized by a myriad of quirky determination patterns, as well as utterly human shortcomings!!. Married, having a son, a house, etc, etc, etc and so on and so on and so on and so forth and so forth and so forth, pans out to whereby his emeritus years become those of expounding dissertation about his exciting dare devil nefarious life as an impervious adolescent.. Spinning Yarns? We know better!!...Try telling his son that...Too incredible!! Too spectacular!! Too heroic!!...Ed Bloom's blindly motivational love and devotion towards the woman he cherishes, makes Romeo and Juliet's relationship seem platonic... Crazy dreams, the supernatural, and negligence of compassion via the compelling illustration of the cold cruel world, make Big Fish a reality as far as being a five star film!!

In the end, Big Fish shows how the aspect of positive human nature prevails, and how a person's life is intricate and meaningful!! The impact your father has on you is indelible, and recognition of unconditional love for your family, and the people around you, manifest themselves in many distinguishable ways, all of them being indispensable!! Ed Bloom is the picture-book example of how exaggerations and erroneous behavior in your life are an integral part of your existence!! You have realized you are fortunate to be human because you are not perfect, the adjective perfect is for calculators, Hallmark Cards, and martinis after work...Ed Bloom had an anything but John Doe in an orange crate funeral.. A numerous cross section of socially diverse individuals had a grass roots recognition of who Ed Bloom was, in that sense, Ed Bloom died a very rich man!! Big Fish was a melting pot of proclivities and acute misconceptualizations that established a colorful obituary as being the ultimate trophy we can be the recipients of for our agenda here on earth!! More significantly, the aggregate affection, as well as the life experiences all of the characters in the movie have had, and would not trade for a million dollars, is something that this film brilliantly portrays, by way of a hail Mary pass that winds up being the game winning touchdown!!.. It was this convoluted philosophical disposition that "Big Fish" so perfectly executed that puts this film in the category as one of the best films ever produced. Expediting faulted emotions is a sink or swim endeavor, and, in this case "Big Fish" swam, (No pun intended) Metaphorically, all of these accolades are a way of saying that the ending to this film was very powerful and cohesive...surprisingly and effectively so!! I give Big Fish a five star rating, and a perfect 10!! This website ranks it as one of the top 250 films ever made!! I totally concur!!