I don't have much time for a movie review this morning, but I saw Big Fish last night and I wanted to make a brief observation.
First off, I liked the movie; it was fun and enjoyable, and I'd recommend it to almost anyone. That out of the way, it's biggest flaw was that the concept was better than the execution. If I didn't like the central idea of the movie so much, I'd have no complaints. The writing, dialogue, acting, sets... everything was technically good, but none of it did service to the exceptionally fantastic foundation of the story. I suppose I should read the book and see what got cut out.
michael, i couldn't agree more. films are a big deal to me and i usually side with whatever i see, trying to find something good in the picture. "big fish" on the other hand, was a big let down. i almost passed out when i saw the trailer a few months ago because i was so excited -- especially because burton was making an effort to mend the wounds from his most recent mistake, "planet of the apes." burton's style is amazing -- he is a visionary i appreciate. but with "big fish," i didn't relate at all to any of the characters, could have cared less about the death at the end and didn't find any of the tall tales interesting once they were explained in the film. highly disappointing, considering the potential burton & mcgregor had. however, i am greatly anticipating burton's "charlie and the chocolate factory" coming out next year starring depp. now burton + depp is a good match, no matter what the circumstances.
I was hoping Christopher Walken would be playing Wonka, but oh well. Have you read the book?
supposedly, spielberg was to direct "big fish" starring jack nicholson. this duo sounds much better to me, looking back on the situation, but burton could have done SO much more!
anyway, i believe i read the book ["charlie"] in elementary school, but i don't remember it. my plan is to read it a few months before the film is released next june.
I like Nicholson, and Spielberg is a decent director (although he's a better producer, in my opinion). That would have been a very different movie, I expect.
I've never read Charlie, but I liked the movie as a kid. Depp as Wonka... I dunno. I think Michael Keaton would probably have been best of the three I saw proposed, but Depp's a good actor. Too bad he's such an idiot.