In Other Words – A Movie Review by Mark Pintar

Of

Big Fish
Directed By: Tim Burton
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney and Billy Crudup

big fish
Directed By: Tim Burton
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney and Billy Crudup

In “Big Fish,” director Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) gets to do a lot of what he does well, tell interesting, strange and quirky stories.

William Bloom (Billy Crudup) has had enough of his father’s tall tales. Ed Bloom (Albert Finney and Ewan McGregor), a traveling salesman, has told these stories for longer than William can remember. In fact, William no longer believes anything his father has told him is true. As his father nears death, William finds out that all of his father’s stories have a bit of truth to them.

Once you get past the surrealistic, almost hyper-realistic storytelling segments, “Big Fish” presents a lot of interesting ideas to ponder. How do the stories of our life affect us and others? How do we embellish our own stories to make them a little more interesting? Does it matter if we take some poetic license in telling our life story? Do others really get to know us if all they hear are tall tales? Who is the real you? This movie isn’t for everyone, but it is a lot of fun.

Ed Bloom sure did pack a lot of living into his years on this earth! If you don’t believe me, go watch some of his stories in “Big Fish”.

--- © 2004, In Other Words, A Book and Movie Review by Mark Pintar

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