Big Fish (2003)

A son tries to learn more about his dying father by reliving stories and myths he told about his life.

Director:

Tim Burton

Writers:

Daniel Wallace (novel), John August (screenplay)

Stars:

Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup

Nominated for 1 Oscar. Another 33 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ewan McGregor	...	Ed Bloom - Young
Albert Finney	...	Ed Bloom - Senior
Billy Crudup	...	Will Bloom
Jessica Lange	...	Sandra Bloom - Senior
Helena Bonham Carter	...	Jenny - Young / Jenny - Senior / The Witch
Alison Lohman	...	Sandra Bloom - Young
Robert Guillaume	...	Dr. Bennett - Senior
Marion Cotillard	...	Josephine Bloom
Matthew McGrory	...	Karl the Giant
David Denman	...	Don Price - Age 18-22
Missi Pyle	...	Mildred
Loudon Wainwright III	...	Beamen (as Loudon Wainwright)
Ada Tai	...	Ping
Arlene Tai	...	Jing
Steve Buscemi	...	Norther Winslow

Storyline

The story revolves around a dying father and his son, who is trying to learn more about his dad by piecing together the stories he has gathered over the years. The son winds up re-creating his father's elusive life in a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts he knows. Through these tales, the son begins to understand his father's great feats and his great failings.

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Plot Keywords:

dying | flashback | legend | liar | swimming pool | 

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Taglines:

An adventure as big as life itself.

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 January 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

El gran pez

Filming Locations:

USA

Box Office

Budget:

$70,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$592,635 (Japan) (14 May 2004)

Gross:

$3,559,255 (Japan) (18 June 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, Jinks/Cohen Company, Zanuck Company, The

Technical Specs

Runtime:

125 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS (8 channels)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg was attached to this project and wanted Jack Nicholson to star, but dropped out due to his full schedule, soon after which Tim Burton signed on.

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Goofs

When Ed dives into the river after the water snake, he was all wet when he emerges from it, with leeches on his legs. However when he returns to Spectre with Jenny in the next scene, his shirt and pants are completely dry.

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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.

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Crazy Credits

The Columbia logo runs in reverse.

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Connections

References Batman Returns (1992)

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Soundtracks

"Dinah"
Written by Harry Akst, Sam Lewis and Joe Young
Performed by Bing Crosby
Courtesy of Jasmine Records

User Reviews

Very sweet, imaginative story despite lacking a strong conclusion

Will Bloom feels like he doesn't really know his father - his habit of telling exaggerated and untrue stories instead of the truth. They don't speak for several years until Will hears that Ed is on his deathbed and returns home. He hopes to find out the truth behind the stories but can only get more of the same without doing some digging.

Even having watched the trailer I was unsure exactly what this film was about, but I trusted that Burton's imagination would carry it. Having seen it, the film can best be described as being about story telling in that the film is more about the wonder of the stories told than the actual narrative in terms of start/middle/end. In terms of the traditional idea of narrative, the film is not perfect - it is not as meaningful or as satisfying as I would have hoped, and this is shown in an ending that, although sweet, is not as neat as I would have hoped. However the telling - that's where it is at.

The stories told are wonderfully whimsical and amusing, like the film states the stories have elements of truth but also be coloured by Bloom to add life to them. For me, it was very simple to get involved in the tall tales and I was held in the spell of Ed's stories easily - even thought it never came to a `real' solution I was still captivated by just how sweet and imaginative it all was. If it sounds like I'm having trouble putting my words together it is because I found the film quite hard to quantify - all I know is that I found the whole experience to be very sweet and enjoyable despite it not really amounting to much in the grand scheme of things. In this regard the film is a consistently imaginative fantasy film that is gently humorous and outright funny at times.

The cast are pretty good. I was originally a little put off by McGregor's Alabama accent and it took me a minute to get past it, but other that his performance was very good and he helped create the film's mood of wonder and whimsy. I think both McGregor and Finney needed to have that sort of accent

• I don't know why but it is a storyteller's accent and it does help the

material. Finney is good and manages to keep the spirit of McGregor's character going despite not being surrounded by the images to support him. The support cast works well whether they be tall giants or well-known cameos from Buscemi, Carter and Devito. Lange, Crudup and Cotillard are all good but it is easily McGregor and Finney's film.

Overall some will find the lack of structure and real substance to be a problem - after all, this is a film about tall tales and not everyone will be able to enjoy that. However this is a wonderfully light and fun bit of whimsy that is a lot better than I expected it to be. While it may not amount to a great deal more than that, it can still be enjoyed for what it is - a great fun story!