There comes a time in every young man’s life when a dad is no longer a hero and merely exists as his father.
“Big Fish” is a tale that focuses primarily on the reconciliation between an ill father, his inquisitive son and the power of storytelling.
Throughout his life, William Bloom’s father told adventurous and seemingly improbable stories. While his tales were captivating to William’s peers and relatives, William was not entranced by his father’s charm. Instead, he longed for the guidance, affection and wisdom of his father.
Edward Bloom’s well-sculpted accounts are of witches, conjoined twins, a magical town, a circus giant and an overwhelmingly big fish. Through a carefully arranged series of incidents, the characters in Edward’s stories are brilliantly connected. His tales are engaging and well-shot, which helps pull the viewer through the twists and turns of his unparalleled escapades.
In William’s uncertainty, he searches for the truth about his father’s childhood adventures and his own birth. He fears his entire life has been fabricated by his father.
Frustrated with his father’s habitual story telling, he leaves the small town of Ashton, Ala., and moves to Paris. But three years later, he rushes home with his expecting wife when his mother phones to inform him that his father is ill. When he returns to Ashton, the reason for the film’s dual narrative is revealed.
Edward, played by Albert Finney, conveys his life story, and William, played by Billy Crudup, desperately searches for closure and an inkling of truth from his father’s past.
The film does not make a distinction between what is real and what is fiction, allowing the viewer to share William’s confusion for the majority of the picture.
There are details in Edward’s accounts that do not match history. It is questionable that a black man would have been a white woman’s obstetrician in the 1930s in Alabama, or that a black child explored the woods and attended church with four friends who are white.
The film’s cast does a remarkable job of portraying characters of a whimsical fairy tale, especially those that live in Spectre.
The actors performed well but lacked character development. It was tough to emotionally connect to any of the characters.
The dual narration of the film made it vital to jump back and forth between the present and the past in nearly every scene. The flashbacks were excessive, distracting and took away from the structure of the film. The detailed instances of Edward’s life are interesting and attention-grabbing, but they do not advance the plot or build a sense of character development.
The entire film is based on symbolism, and despite its magnitude, it lacks a dramatic ending. The film’s greatest downsides are the predictability of the ending and the copied images from other movies.
Immediately, recognizable are several parallel images between “Big Fish” and “Forrest Gump.” A southern boy is involved in improbable adventures, is called to war, has a love interest named Jenny and gives advice to a friend who becomes rich.
“Big Fish” does an outstanding job of emphasizing Edward’s magical, dreamlike imagination. As the tale unfolds, the viewer learns why elaboration is harmless. The PG-13 rated film is perfect for the family, moves at a reasonable pace and offers ironically humorous dialogue.
