Big Fish

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Big Fish
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Tim Burton
Produced by	Richard D. Zanuck
Written by	Daniel Wallace John August
Starring	Ewan McGregor Albert Finney Billy Crudup Jessica Lange Alison Lohman Steve Buscemi Danny DeVito
Music by	Danny Elfman
Cinematography	Philippe Rousselot
Editing by	Chris Lebenzon
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 10, 2003 (limited) January 9, 2004 (wide)
Running time	125 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
Gross revenue	$122.92 million

Big Fish is a 2003 fantasy drama film, directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. It is loosely based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace, and stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, Marion Cotillard, and Danny DeVito, among others.

Will Bloom (Crudup) returns to his family home in Alabama, having spent the past three years not talking to his father Edward (Finney). Dying, Edward recounts his life story in his own unique, exaggerated way, full of fantastic events (portrayed in these flashbacks by McGregor). Will tries to get to know his father and find the truth, discovering that his father did lead an extraordinary life and that his storytelling was his finest achievement.

The film was initially planned to be directed by Steven Spielberg before Burton took on the project, following the death of his own father. The film was mostly shot in Alabama, and had a much less gothic tone than Burton's other films such as Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. Many critics hailed the film as Burton's masterpiece, and it received four Golden Globe nominations and one Oscar nomination for Danny Elfman's original score.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Production 4 Release and reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

At his son's wedding party, Edward Bloom tells the same tale he's told many times over the years: on the day Will was born, he was out catching an enormous uncatchable fish, using his wedding ring as bait. Will is annoyed, explaining to his wife Josephine that because his father never told the straight truth about anything, he felt unable to trust him. He is troubled to think that he might have a similarly difficult relationship with his future children. Will's relationship with his father becomes so strained that they do not talk for three years. But when his father's health starts to fail, Will and the now pregnant Josephine return to Alabama. On the plane, Will recalls his father's tale of how he braved a swamp as a child, and met a witch who showed him his death in her glass eye. With this knowledge, Edward knew there were no odds he could not face.

Edward continues telling tall tales, claiming he spent three years confined to a bed as a child because his body was growing too fast. He became a successful sports player but found the town of Ashton too small for his ambition, and sets off with the misunderstood giant Karl. Edward discovers the hidden town of Spectre, where everyone is friendly to the point of comfortably walking around barefoot. Edward leaves because he does not want to settle anywhere yet, but promises to a young girl named Jenny that he will return. Karl and Edward begin working at a circus: Edward works without pay, as he has been promised every month he will learn something new about a girl he fell in love with (at first sight) by the ringmaster Amos Calloway. Three years later, having only learned trivia about her, Edward discovers Amos is a werewolf. In return for his refusal to harm him in his monstrous state, Amos tells Edward the girl's name is Sandra Templeton and she studies at Auburn University.

Edward learns Sandra is engaged to Don Price, who is also from Ashton. Don beats up Edward when he learns about his feelings for her, but this only disgusts Sandra into ending their engagement and falling for Edward. During his recovery, Edward is conscripted by the army and sent to Korea. Instead of taking his assigned mission, he parachutes into a theater entertaining troops, steals important documents, and convinces Siamese twin dancers Ping and Jing to help him get back to America, where he will make them stars. Unable to contact anyone on his journey home, the military declares him dead. This limits Edward's job options when he does return home, so he becomes a traveling salesman. Meeting the poet Norther Winslow from Spectre again, he unwittingly helps him rob a bank, which is already bankrupt. Edward suggests Winslow work at Wall Street, and Winslow thanks Edward for his advice by sending him $10,000, which he uses to buy a dream house.

Still unimpressed by his father's stories, Will demands to know the truth, but Edward explains that is who he is: a storyteller. Will finds Spectre, and meets an older Jenny, who explains Edward rescued the town from bankruptcy by buying it at an auction and rebuilding it with financial help from many of his previous acquaintances (although it decayed again). When Will returns home, he is informed his father had a stroke and is at the hospital. He goes to visit him there and finds him only partly conscious, and unable to speak at length. Since Edward can no longer tell stories, he asks Will to tell him the story of how it all ends: escaping from the hospital, they go to the river where everyone in Edward's life appears to bid him goodbye. Will carries his father into the river where he becomes a big fish. Edward then passes away, knowing his son finally understands his love of storytelling. At the funeral, Will sees many of his father's more unusual friends, including Amos, Karl, Ping and Jing and Norther Winslow, although they are not entirely the same as in the stories (for example, Karl was not a giant, but still very tall). When his own son is born, Will passes on his father's stories, remarking that his father became his stories, allowing him to live forever.

[edit] Cast

• Albert Finney as the oldest Edward Bloom.
  • Ewan McGregor as a younger Edward.
  • Perry Waltson plays Edward as a child.
• Jessica Lange as Sandra K. Bloom: Edward's wife.
  • Alison Lohman as the younger Sandra, née Templeton.
• Billy Crudup as William Bloom.
• Marion Cotillard as Joséphine Bloom.
• Helena Bonham Carter as Jennifer Hill (Jenny). Bonham Carter also plays an elderly Witch who gives a young Bloom a vision of his future death.
  • Hailey Anne Nelson plays Jenny as an eight year old when Edward first meets her.
• Robert Guillaume as Dr. Bennett: The family doctor.
• Matthew McGrory as Karl the Giant.
• Danny DeVito as Amos Calloway: A circus ringmaster.
• Steve Buscemi as Norther Winslow: A poet from Ashton who supposedly went missing, having never left the idyllic town of Spectre.
• Ada Tai and Arlene Tai as Ping and Jing: siamese twins , who perform as singers for soldiers in Korea.
• David Denman as Don Price: A boy from Ashton who was always overshadowed by Edward's achievements.
• Loudon Wainwright III as Beamen: The mayor of Spectre, and Jenny's father.
• Missi Pyle as Mildred: Beamen's wife.
• Miley Cyrus (credited as Destiny Cyrus) as 8-year-old Ruthie.
• Daniel Wallace as Economics Teacher
• Deep Roy as Mr. Soggybottom, the circus clown and Amos' Attorney.

[edit] Production

Following the death of his father, screenwriter John August read a manuscript of the novel Big Fish in 1999, and had Columbia Pictures option the book on his behalf.^[1] Steven Spielberg signed on to direct in August 2000,^[2] and he had August write two drafts, with Jack Nicholson in mind to play the older Edward Bloom.^[1] August worked hard to make the episodic book into a cohesive story, deciding to have several narrators, and then wrote a third draft after Spielberg was becoming distracted with other projects.^[1] Producers Dan Jinks and Bruce Cohen first discussed the project with Stephen Daldry,^[3] before they sent the third draft to Tim Burton, who signed on in April 2002 to direct.^[4]

Burton had never been particularly close to his parents, but his father's death in October 2000 and his mother's in March 2002 affected him deeply. Following Planet of the Apes' production, he wanted to get back to making a smaller film. Burton enjoyed the script, feeling that it was the first unique story he was offered since Beetlejuice. Burton also found appeal in the story's combination of an emotional drama with exaggerated tall tales, which allowed him to tell various stories of different genres. Burton met up with Jack Nicholson, and briefly discussed using computers to allow him to play a younger version of himself. After that, Burton began the difficult process of casting two actors as the same character,^[1] which meant filming was pushed from October 2002 to January 2003.^[5]

Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney were cast first as the younger and older Edward Bloom respectively on August 1, 2002.^[6] The combination was suggested by producers Jinks and Cohen who were working with McGregor on Down with Love, and Burton got on with him, finding him quite similar to regular colleague Johnny Depp.^[1] Viewing Finney's performance in Tom Jones, Burton found him similar to McGregor, and coincidentally he found a People article comparing the two.^[7] Most of the cast were assembled by November.^[8] As with Sandra's introduction, Alison Lohman had to stand still for two minutes during her audition.^[1]

Filming on Big Fish began on January 13, 2003 and ended in early May.^[5] Production was based in Wetumpka, Alabama. All of Albert Finney's scenes as the elder Edward Bloom were shot first due to the emotional difficulty of his scenes. McGregor was on set from the beginning and observed Finney. Afterward, shooting took on a livelier, more enjoyable state as Burton and McGregor shot scenes of varying genre. Much of the film was improvised, most notably Edward's slippery birth scene and the humorous scene in Korea where he turns off the light as he beats up two men. During filming of the circus scenes, strong winds hit and flooded much of the sets, but filming stayed on schedule. Shooting in Alabama finished in April, and moved to Paris for a single week before wrapping.^[1][5] Burton preferred to use practical special effects alongside computer animation. Forced perspective was employed for scenes with Karl the Giant, when he realigns Jenny's home and lifts up a car for Will and Edward to make their way through traffic. Burton also used color grading for the first time, which lent an extra mood to the fantasy scenes.^[9]

The Big Fish soundtrack was composed by regular Burton collaborator Danny Elfman. Pearl Jam also contributed a song entitled "Man of the Hour" after watching the film.^[1]

[edit] Release and reception

The film had a limited release on December 10, 2003, before it was released nationwide on January 9, 2004.^[10] The Region 1 DVD release of Big Fish took place on April 27, 2004,^[11] whilst the Region 2 release took place on June 7.^[12] The release featured a Burton commentary track and a special quiz on him, in addition to various featurettes. The film was re-released on November 1, 2005, with a 24 page hardback book entitled Fairy Tale for a Grown Up.^[13] The film was released on Blu-ray on April 9, 2007.^[14]

Although it was initially believed to have opened in wide release at the top spot with $14.5 million,^[15] Big Fish grossed only $13 million, still leaving The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at number one.^[16] It eventually grossed $66 million in the United States and $56 million in the rest of the world, amounting to a $122 million gross.^[10] The film received nominations at the 2004 Golden Globes for Best Picture in the Comedy or Musical genre, as well as nominations for Albert Finney, Danny Elfman and Eddie Vedder. At the Academy Awards, Elfman received a nomination for his score.^[17]

Big Fish received some high praise by many reviewers, with some calling it Tim Burton's best film, including Jeff Vice.^[18] Jeffrey Westhoff felt that the film gave Burton a "much-needed boost of maturity", feeling the film was his best since Ed Wood.^[19] Peter Travers gave it 4/4 as, "a script that challenges and deepens Burton's talent", and he also praised Ewan McGregor's performance.^[20] Adrian Hennigan of the BBC praised both Burton and screenwriter John August following their disparaged work on Planet of the Apes and Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle respectively, feeling it was a celebration of the art of storytelling and a touching father–son drama, and "feelgood without being overly sentimental; romantic without being cloying; moving without being mawkish."^[21] Betty Jo Tucker said it was one of her favourite films of the year, saying "Big Fish not only charmed me completely with its humanity and humor – it surprised me with its wisdom."^[22]

A few negative reviews came from mainstream reviewers. Unmoved, Roger Ebert felt, "There is no denying that Will has a point: The old man is a blowhard. There is a point at which his stories stop working as entertainment and segue into sadism."^[23] Kirk Honeycutt found it "a belabored oddity that is one long-winded tall tale illustrated with hammy, artificial sets and gee-whiz acting... These stories never get beyond their surreal imagery."^[24] Big Fish holds a 77% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with 154 positive reviews out of 199. The more mixed reception of 64% from the mainstream press is held among its "Cream of the Crop" critics.^[25]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Big Fish

• Official site
• Big Fish at the Internet Movie Database
• Big Fish at Allmovie
• Big Fish at Box Office Mojo
• Big Fish at Rotten Tomatoes

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