Big Fish

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For other uses, see Big Fish (disambiguation).

Big Fish

Directed by	Tim Burton
Produced by	Bruce Cohen Dan Jinks Richard D. Zanuck
Written by	John August & Daniel Wallace (novel)
Starring	Ewan McGregor Billy Crudup Albert Finney Jessica Lange Helena Bonham Carter Steve Buscemi Alison Lohman Danny DeVito
Music by	Danny Elfman
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	December 10, 2003 (USA)
Running time	125 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$70 million
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Big Fish is a 2003 movie directed by Tim Burton and written by John August, starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup and Jessica Lange. It is loosely based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace.

Big Fish received four Golden Globe nominations and one Oscar nomination for Danny Elfman's original score. The film is much less gothic than some of Burton's other works such as Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow.

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

The film follows the incredible life story of Edward Bloom (McGregor/Finney) and his strained relationship with his son, Will (Crudup). Will hasn't talked to his father for years, following an incident that strengthened his belief that his father was a liar who didn't care about his family. He approaches him again only after he learns that his father is dying.

Through flashbacks, Will tries to recall and piece together the stories his father used to tell him about his many adventures and how he lived his life, which he believes to be just tall tales and impossible to believe. Bloom's stories contain fantasy elements: a witch, a giant, a werewolf, and so on, showing him as a lucky hero with few personal flaws.

Will sets out to grasp the idea behind these stories and to discover the truth about the real Edward Bloom. When it all comes together, it turns out that Edward's "unbelievable stories" are shown to have some element of truth (e.g., Will meets a giant who is very tall, though smaller than his father had made him out to be.) At the end, Will realizes he made a mistake in not trusting his father, and that he needs to open his mind more and be less cynical; finally, he manages to come to terms with his father's need to live an extraordinary life. In the final moments of his father's life, Will concocts a wild story that sends his father Edward to the river, where he turns into a fish.

The ending of the movie is bittersweet in the sense that before Edward Bloom passed away, his son managed to forgive his father for all his deception. However, the ending proves that without a doubt his father's stories were indeed based on true events, although exaggerated (e.g. the Siamese twins were actually Asian twins who could have quite possibly been from Thailand, formerly Siam; the giant was a tall man; etc.)

Spoilers end here.

[edit] Cast

Ewan McGregor - young Edward Bloom
Albert Finney - senior Edward Bloom
Billy Crudup - Will Bloom
Jessica Lange - senior Sandra Bloom
Helena Bonham Carter - younger & older Jenny / The Witch
Alison Lohman - young Sandra Bloom
Robert Guillaume - Dr. Bennett
Marion Cotillard - Joséphine
Matthew McGrory - Karl the Giant
David Denman - Don Price (Age 18-22)
Missi Pyle - Mildred
Loudon Wainwright III - Beamen
Ada Tai - Ping
Arlene Tai - Jing
Steve Buscemi - Norther Winslow
Danny DeVito - Amos Calloway
Perry Waltson - Ed Bloom (Age 10)
Hailey Anne Nelson - Jenny (Age 8)
Miley Cyrus(as Destiny Cyrus)- Ruthie (Age 8)

[edit] Trivia

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Young Edward Bloom's car is a 1966 Dodge Charger colored in the PP1 bright red with a P4X premium black vinyl interior. Four Chargers were used in the movie for the various stunts such as being hung from the tree, being underwater, smoking the tires, and general interior/exterior shots. The four Big Fish movie Chargers are currently registered with the National '66/'67 Charger Registry.

The band Yellowcard wrote a song called "How I Go" which was about the movie.

The university portrayed as Auburn University is actually Huntingdon College; Auburn University does not have sorority houses.

The film included an appearance by former child actor Billy Redden, famous as the banjo-playing mentally handicapped mountain boy named Lonny in the acclaimed 1972 film Deliverance. In the December 23, 2003 issue of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution director Tim Burton was quoted as saying he wanted Redden in the film as a character sitting on a porch with a banjo because "I never forgot that image."

Most of the story is set in and around the fictional town of Ashton, Alabama. Most of the landmarks of Ashton actually exist in Wetumpka, Alabama where principal shooting took place.

During the plane flight, Will Bloom sees a child doing a shadow puppet of a bat the same way The Penguin did it in Tim Burton's earlier film, Batman Returns.

The song played during the closing credits is Pearl Jam's "Man of the Hour," which was requested specially by Tim Burton for the film.

[edit] External links

Tim Burton ( This box: view • talk • edit )
Director
The Island of Doctor Agor • Stalk of the Celery • Vincent • Frankenweenie • Pee-wee's Big Adventure • Beetlejuice • Batman • Edward Scissorhands • Batman Returns • Ed Wood • Mars Attacks! • Sleepy Hollow • Planet of the Apes • Big Fish • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory • Corpse Bride • Sweeney Todd
Producer
The Nightmare Before Christmas • James and the Giant Peach • Batman Forever • 9