Movie · 2003 · Adventure, Fantasy, Drama · 2h 5m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 6.9/10 (1M ratings)
An adventure as big as life itself.
Overview
Throughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
Ratings
Curator score: 6.9/10
IMDb: 7.9/10
Letterboxd: 3.94/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 76%
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 7.8/10
Director
Tim Burton
Production
Columbia Pictures, The Zanuck Company, Jinks/Cohen Company, Tim Burton Productions
Cast
Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Robert Guillaume, Marion Cotillard, Matthew McGrory, David Denman, Missi Pyle, Loudon Wainwright III, Ada Tai, Arlene Tai, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, Deep Roy, Perry Walston, Hailey Anne Nelson, Grayson Stone
Curator Review
Verdict
A warm, melancholy fantasy about storytelling, fatherhood, and the way memory turns a life into myth. Its emotional payoff is strong even if the tone occasionally feels uneven, and the final stretch lands with real tenderness.
Best for
viewers who like heartfelt family dramas with magical realism
fans of whimsical, visually expressive fantasy
people drawn to bittersweet stories about parents and children
audiences who enjoy movies about storytelling and unreliable memory
Skip if
you want strict realism or a plot built on logic
you dislike sentimental endings
you prefer Burton at his darkest or most gothic
you need a fast, tightly plotted drama
Overview
Big Fish is one of Tim Burton’s most humane films, a story that treats exaggeration not as a lie but as a form of love. It follows a son trying to separate fact from fable, only to discover that the emotional truth of a life can matter more than literal accuracy. The movie’s visual invention supports that idea beautifully, turning ordinary memories into something luminous and slightly unreal.
Worth noting
What makes it endure is the balance of whimsy and grief. It can be funny, romantic, and absurd in one scene, then quietly devastating in the next. The performances give it warmth and sincerity, especially in the father-son dynamic, which keeps the film from floating away on style alone.
Bottom line
It is not perfectly even, and some of the episodic storytelling can feel more charming than essential. But the ending still lands with uncommon force, and the film’s central idea — that stories are how we preserve the people we love — gives it lasting emotional resonance.
Top Letterboxd reviews
clownhead (5★) · 4832 likes
IMDb Trivia: every single drop of water in this movie is one or more of my tears
amanda (4★) · 4319 likes
my dad kept saying the giant looked like adam driver so i think that ruined a bit of the experience
Boy Roarbison [fka Nag Champion] (4★) · 2957 likes
The last good film Tim Burton has made. The only good film Tim Burton has made in this century. The best film Tim Burton has ever made. God, I hate Tim Burton.
layzon (5★) · 2654 likes
sorry but 31 year old ewan mcgregor saying "I'm 18" is the funniest thing ever
Betty (4.5★) · 2370 likes
does tim burton only like making films about people called edward or what