Big Fish

By David DiCerto
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- An estranged son, returning home to reconnect with his dying father, learns that fiction is sometimes more truthful than facts in the enchanting fable "Big Fish" (Columbia). If, as they say, a story is all in the telling, then director Tim Burton's tall tale is sure to reel viewers in as it's, er, fins down, one of the most delightful films of the year.

Adapted from Daniel Wallace's charming novella, "Big Fish" is an intimate epic, a small father-son story writ large and wrapped in mythic allusions and whimsical down-home hyperbole. At its center is Will Bloom (Billy Crudup), a young American journalist living in Paris with his pregnant French wife. Will fled his home in Alabama in order to escape the shadow of his charismatic father, Edward (Albert Finney), a compulsive storyteller, whose flights of fantasy are retold with religious regularity.

While highly entertaining, Edward's fanciful biographical anecdotes have played a major role in alienating his son by keeping Will virtually in the dark about his father's true past. However, when summoned home by his mother (Jessica Lange) with news of Edward's ailing health, Will -- on the cusp of fatherhood himself -- sets out to tear down the wall of fabrications around his dad and uncover the truth behind his fantastical fiction. Will confronts Edward about his emotionally evasive embellishments, to which the raconteur responds that a man's life can't -- and shouldn't -- be measured by the narrow barometer of "facts," explaining that his colorful yarns contain more keys to who he "really" is than any prosaic personal history. After all, the best stories are often ruined by oververification -- and this is a story about storytelling.

But don't get the wrong impression -- this isn't some teary "Terms of Endearment" domestic drama. Seamlessly woven into the father-son narrative is the story of Edward's life -- and what a life it is! Growing up in the fictitious antebellum town of Ashton, Ala., a young Edward experiences a preternatural growth spurt. Confined to bed, he passes time reading the World Book Encyclopedia. Browsing a volume, he stumbles across a life-altering nugget of trivia: A goldfish's size depends on the size of the bowl it's kept in. Divining prophetic insight from this factoid, Edward (played as a young man by Ewan McGregor) decides that the town of Ashton is too confining for a man of his ambitions.

Seeking out a larger pond, he decides to take the path less traveled -- literally -- embarking on a Homeric odyssey full of adventure and eccentric traveling companions, including a misunderstood giant, a witch, a pair of Korean lounge singers, a backwater "Brigadoon"-style town -- and, as one can guess from the title, a large, wily catfish.

Burton, whose visionary oeuvre includes "Edward Scissorhands" (1990), "Batman" (1989) and "Beetlejuice" (1988), strikes the perfect balance between the magical and the mundane, blending fantasy and reality to craft a timeless fairy tale that cuts to the core of what it means to be human. And while sharing many similar themes, "Big Fish" marks a distinct departure from the dynamic visual style of Burton's earlier works, muting his signature surrealism with a more conventional emotional realism. However, as in all his films, Burton explores and illuminates the human condition by viewing life through the eyes of those whom the world would label misfits or eccentrics.

The actors are uniformly pitch-perfect; they include Danny DeVito, Helena Bonham Carter and Steve Buscemi in supporting roles. And though it's a bit of a stretch to believe McGregor matures into Finney, in a film dealing with plausible plasticity it seems par for the course -- what's a little stretch in a story about stretching the truth?

Though peddlers of pessimism will probably find fault with the film's slightly disjointed narrative (much of the action is episodic) and unabashed sentimentality, "Big Fish" is a welcome relief to the look-alike sequels and big-budget banality churned out ad nauseum by Hollywood. "Big Fish" is much more than just simple escapist fare. Its offbeat message serves as an antidote to the cataracts of cynicism afflicting society by inviting us to see life through more wonderful eyes.

It offers a "wider" view of humanity, one which refuses to define man in narrow connect-the-dots terms, but as something greater than the sum of his or her parts. Life is not a list of facts and dates -- a problem to be solved -- but a mystery and an adventure to be embraced. In accomplishing this, Burton has fulfilled the duty of the artist -- which, according to G.K. Chesterton, is to "awaken and keep alive the sense of wonder in man."

This is one fish tale that really hooks you -- and that's no exaggeration.
Due to some brief violence, an instance of rear nudity and minimal mildly crude humor and language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents are strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.