message in the movies By Rev. Bruce Batchelor Glader

         
Big Fish   PG-13
Directed by Tim Burton. Starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney.

Photo © Copyright Columbia
Will Bloom has just been informed that his father Edward Bloom has incurable cancer.  Still, he has to muster up all of his strength to return home for a visit, for Edward has been boring Will for years with all of his tall tales about his past, including stories about a witch, a circus, a giant, military exploits and even the courtship of Will’s mother.  Will seeks the truth from his father, but the old man insists on retelling the same stories.  I could empathize with Will, for we get to see the stories on screen and, frankly, they’re not very interesting.  The biggest “laugh” in the film is a joke that Edward tells his son that I heard at least 30 years ago.  Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney play Young and Old Edward, and everyone else in the cast (including Jessica Lange and Danny DeVito) sure works hard to pump up a forgettable and mediocre script. Big Fish is a big bore, a two-hour squirm that ends with one of the most unsatisfying endings that I have ever experienced in a lifetime of going to the movies.  Throw this fish back into the pond and try to catch a different movie this weekend.

Halo and Pitchfork Rating: One halos. (Some interesting art direction occasionally diverts your attention from a ponderous and headache-inducing tall tale.)  One pitchfork. (Brief swearing, implied sexual suggestiveness.)

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