Hey folks, Harry here... On this INSANE DAY of a billion stories posted.... yeesh! Anyway, I see that Moriarty posted Amazing Larry's review of BIG FISH, but technically... Nino's review came in first... Mori just didn't see it. And I was saving it till the end of a gigantic update. As you can tell from the rather lackluster and flaccid review of THE CAT IN THE HAT, I think it is safe to say that BIG FISH is gonna eat THE CAT this Holiday season! But, that's what happens when one has a great script, a great cast and a great director. Imagine that? Here's Nino...
Hey Harry!
Big fan of the site and have been for a while. I always think of it when I see something cool like a screening or some filming around Orange County. Well when I heard the words "You are the first audience to see this movie" and that movie happened to be BIG FISH I knew I couldn't avoid writing.
So yeah there was the usual disclaimers before hand in that it was a work print and that not all the picture and sound was there but in reality only the title sequence hadn't been fully textured. Sure there was an occasional random shot that hadn't been colored but otherwise I don't foresee much of a change from the final print. There is of course the exception of Danny Elfman's score. There was appropriate filler music from other films like Scissor Hands, Apollo 13, and even Spiderman. A friend caught the producer afterwards to comment on the music and he said that on Monday Elfman would record in London. So I expect picture lock fairly soon, and rightfully so...
BIG FISH is freakin' awesome. What a trip! -And hilarious moments. It has the quality of Forest Gump in an epic sense and the feel of the first minutes of Blue Velvet, nearly the whole time. All the while some of the most off the wall, strangest things occur.
Basic, spoiler free overview: (Ewan McGregor) is there as young Edward Bloom, who only appears in the tall tale story versions that his older self (Albert Finney) tells so often. On OLD Edward Blooms deathbed, William Bloom (Billy Crudup) comes to visit with the intent of setting the tall tales straight. William has some issues with never having known the real side of his dad. During Williams inner struggle we delve into Edwards fantasiful past as he knows it. This is where it gets great. Granted there are other characters like Edward and Williams wives whom are well played... In fact there are tons of fantastic characters that we meet during the stories. Steve Buscemi was a crowd favorite, getting applause before he is even formally introduced. Just great wacky characters all around- Giants, a shoeless town, and a really BIG FISH! (to name a few)
There are so many great sequences and situations that McGregor goes through. I can just see the trailer as a colorful overload of seemingly unconnected images. Wonderful sets and scenery like most Tim Burton Movies. Where it falls among his other films is a matter of taste but definitely an improvement over Planet of the Apes.
I will leave it at that so I don't blow it and ruin the film for anyone. The general consensus of it was very VERY positive, 3 people to my right gave it highest marks and the 2 to my left gave it one less, like 4 out of 5. And not to do the film injustice by not mentioning - the film does really hold itself outside of fantasy portion and the relations between the characters are very well developed. Hope this wets everyone's taste buds and my apologies for jumping all over the place, I'm still really excited.
If you use this just call me "Nino"
