Review of Big Eyes (2014) by Gwe W — 17 Jan 2015

Tim Burton pulls himself away from his usual gothic faire and delivers a biopic of one of the biggest and strangest media scams to hit America. Telling the story of the infamous Keane "Big Eye" artwork, the film is entertaining start to finish.

Amy Adams is terrific as usual, giving a great performance of a woman silenced over the years as her anger and frustration hits a slow boil. The turmoil of being pulled into a lie turned multi-million dollar scam never goes overboard for dramatic purpose as Adams keeps things leveled and thought out in a well played manner.

But, as great as her performance is, the real star of the film is Christopher Waltz, who is no stranger to playing a villain-- this time as Adam's husband-- the guy who took all of the credit for his wife's art.

No matter how putrid the guy is, you can't wait to see his next scene. He is that good at being bad and each scene is just another peek into how "crazy" the man really was! I appreciate that the film keeps things light.

While it is serious subject matter, things are presented in a fresh and breezy way with quite a few laughs and a few subtle nods to some of the older Burton films. Very enjoyable film.