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Neil Young's Film Lounge

BIG FISH

5/10

USA 2003 : Tim BURTON : 125 mins

Big Fish is the story (or rather the stories) of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a travelling salesman from Alabama. Though the actual circumstances of his life are seemingly somewhat mundane, Bloom has always embroidered and elaborated them into semi-fantastical tall tales – to the point where his son Will (Billy Crudup) has become frustrated and estranged. But when the older Bloom’s health takes a terminal turn for the worse, the stage is set for an emotional father-son reconciliation – and yet more of those very tall tales.

Burton’s film is adapted from Daniel Wallace’s novel Big Fish : A Novel of Mythic Proportions – and it seems screenwriter John August found condensing such ‘proportions’ into two hours a near-impossible task. The material would probably be better suited to a multi-episode TV programme, each episode devoted to another of Edward’s wild stories - but in this format, Big Fish, though mostly watchable, feels more like a disappointingly conventional illustrated-summary of the novel… rather than the fully-realised ‘re-imagining’ which Burton’s semi-visionary reputation might have led us to expect.

29th January, 2004
(seen 26th January : Odeon – The Gate, Newcastle)

click here for the essay-length version of this review

by Neil Young

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