Review of Big Eyes (2014) by Spangle — 29 Dec 2014

Big Eyes is a pretty good film that has some major strengths and some real negatives. First, the positives. Amy Adams is stupendous in this film. I had high expectations for her performance and she certainly lived up to them. She was awesome. The soundtrack here, highlighted by the Lana Del Rey track, is also great. The song "Big Eyes" was used perfectly in the film and truly communicated the feelings Margaret Keane was feeling at the moment. On top of that, the script and plot were awesome, plus they were told very well through Tim Burton's direction. I do not love Burton, but he was great here in telling the story. On that note, the plot was very interesting. Very interesting story and enjoyable to watch unfold. Art is not something that really interests me, but when put on screen in this fashion, it was riveting. I also loved the cinematography. I do not know if I was seeing things, but there seemed to be some effect put on Adams' eyes reminiscent of the eyes in her paintings, which I thought was really cool.

On the negative, some plot elements felt...extra. Namely Krysten Ritter's entire character (her acting was also sub-par). I typically love Christoph Waltz and Jason Schwartzman, but neither were amazing here. They were solid and, in particular Waltz, had moments of sheer brilliance, but felt comically over the top at times, which really messed with the tone of the film. Finally, the film has a really contained feel to it. Biographical films can feel this way sometimes and this one certainly does. It felt very small and as if it was just trying to hit certain marks, which is something I never really enjoy.

As a whole, Big Eyes is a good, enjoyable film with a fantastic performance from Amy Adams and good direction from Tim Burton that both combine to make this one well worth your time.