Big Fish Review

Definition

According to theFree Dictionary by Farlex, the definition of "chick flick" is:

n.1.A sentimental motion picture that appeals particularly to women.

Well, in Big Fish (2003), Director, Tim Burton has created a "chick flick for guys".

I missed this movie when it was in the theater. It was probably good that I did.

But one night, a couple of years ago I was up in the middle of the night and happened to turn on HBO just as this movie was beginning. Two hours later not only was I still awake, but I had been reduced to tears.

Tim Burton is not known for producing tear jerkers or particularly optimistic films, but this is just what he's accomplished here.

This is a story of a father and a son and an estranged relationship.

Will Bloom, played by Billy Crudup learns that his father, played by Albert Finney, is dying. Will and his father haven't spoken in years, but Will flies home from France to be beside his mother (Jessica Lange).

Will feels he hardly knows his father who has spent his life telling tall tales. But as we find out through a constant series of flashbacks, there is always some kernel of truth to the tales. And, through these tales both we and Will get to know the real Edward Bloom.

Ewan McGregor plays the young Edward superbly with an innocence that is refreshing.

As an aside, I found it great fun watching and listening to two British actors effect superb Alabama accents.

Little by little we are drawn into this film and come to understand and love the characters. Danny DeVito and Steve Buscemi have brief cameo roles, but add immeasurably to the film.

What is really at work here is the metaphoric story of relationships between fathers and sons. Not just Edward and Will, but all (or certainly many) of us, particularly when thinking of a father who has passed away.

In my own case, my father didn't distance himself by the telling of tall tales, but by a cool reserve. I can remember so clearly as his life was ending the difficulty that we had always had sharing our feelings with one another. It was the Xeno way. While my father could always turn it on and be "the life of the party", in his private moments there was always that reserve.

Sitting at his bedside just hours before he passed away, my father drifted in and out of consciousness and I struggled to stay awake. But then in a moment of sudden lucidity, he as briefly awake, sitting up and speaking to me. "Where is everyone?" he asked rubbing his face. Moments passed and I can't really recall most of the conversation, but I can remember him saying "I love you."

Don't get me wrong. I never felt unloved by my father, quite the contrary. But during 31 years of my life I could never recall hearing those words spoken. That's often the way it is between fathers and sons.

Needless to say, Big Fish enabled me to relive that final episode between my father and me. If you're really lucky it'll do the same for you. See it.

Rudi