Review of Big Eyes (2014) by Alberto A — 22 Jan 2015

Big Eyes follows the true story (SHOCKER) of Margaret Keane, a painter whose husband took credit for all her work during the 1950s. Even if Big Eyes is based on a true story, and Iâ??m fucking tired of true stories, Tim Burtonâ??s touch to the story makes it distinctive not only from all true stories out there, but also from Burtonâ??s filmography. Big Eyes shifts a lot from Burtonâ??s recent work, however, I could definitely see hints of his style throughout the movie, namely the picturesque production design and those amazing scenes where Margaret sees her paintings in regular people. Iâ??m glad Burton decided to switch to another style of story but not because I donâ??t like his recent stuff (I actually love Dark Shadows, Frankenweenie, and Alice in Wonderland), but because he proved with Big Eyes that he can do a myriad of styles.

The best thing about the film is definitely Amy Adams as the fearless Margaret Keane. She conveyed her initial innocence to men, her desire to be recognized, and the guile she had to use to get ahead, especially in a world were women are still not as equal as they should be. The interesting thing is that almost all the power of her performance can be found by looking in her eyes, which in her opinion the most revealing part of the body. It would be very fair to say that her performance is a reincarnation of Margaretâ??s paintings. I had a lot of problems with Christoph Waltz as Walter Keane, Margaretâ??s husband. He was too over the place; enough for me to think that he has been repeating his performance over and over again, which sucks because I really like him.