Review of Big Fish (2003) by Spangle — 12 Jan 2015

I watched this for the first time a year and a half ago and I am not entirely sure what I missed. I hated it initially, but this time, it was marvelous. Maybe my tastes have simply just changed in that time, but wow, this was awesome.

Billy Crudup is stellar, as are Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Marion Cotillard, and Jessica Lange. A fantastical adventure through the stories told to a man by his now dying father, Big Fish is a touching film that should strike a chord with every man in some way, in terms of his relationship with his father.

This film is very much imperfect. The story could have told better for sure and the film can be a bit distant at times, but none of that matters because Big Fish touches you in a way that many films cannot.

An imaginative film that is very much about the men it concerns more so than the stories told here, Big Fish is a winner because of the heart at its core, more so than the stories it told that may not make much sense and could have been told better.

After a while, the tall tales told here become entirely endearing, which is just too darn appropriate.