Big Fish

Rating: ****/*****, or 8/10

Delightful tragicomedy like only Tim Burton can give us, regarding a man (Albert Finney) who spends his entire life telling tall tales, to such an extent his son (Billy Crudup) can't separate fiction from reality, much to his chagrin. In search for the truth the son meets a variety of characters from his father's life, while the audience is treated to a wide array of very amusing and charming stories about the man's past, from his birth and his youth, the first time he falls in love as a young man (played with apparent enthusiasm by a vigorous Ewan McGregor), his days in the army and as a janitor at a circus to his dying days where he is fondly remembered by those he has touched in his eventful life. A wonderful ode to life, Burton mixes his oddball Gothic visual style with a decidedly positive attitude to the very nature of human existence, effectively relaying his carpe diem message of 'don't worry about anything and just enjoy life one day at a time'. In the end, the son and the viewer learn that the tales make the man, and it doesn't really matter what's true and what's not. Both visually and story wise, this is one of Burton's finest achievements – despite (or because of?) the absence of Johnny Depp – as well as a very fun but poignant film in general. Plus, it contains an always useful and welcome guide to conquering the girl of your dreams' heart.

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Helena Bonham Carter

Directed by Tim Burton

USA: Columbia Pictures, 2003