Big Fish (2003)
85%RT Audience Score: 89%
Awards & Nominations: Nominated for 1 Oscar
69 nominations total
A charming father-and-son tale filled with typical Tim Burton flourishes, Big Fish is an impressive catch
Big Fish is a movie that will make you laugh, cry, and question whether or not your own dad’s stories are actually true. With a standout performance from Albert Finney and Tim Burton’s signature whimsy, this film is a tall tale that will warm your heart and make you appreciate the power of storytelling. Plus, who doesn’t love a good fish story? Just don’t expect it to be entirely historically accurate.
Production Company(ies)
New Regency Productions, The Wolper Organization Warner Bros.,
Distributor
Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment
Release Type
Theatrical, Theatrical (Wide)
Filming Location(s)
Wetumpka, Alabama, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for a fight scene, some images of nudity and a suggestive reference
Year of Release
2004
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby
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Aspect ratio:NA
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Runtime:2h 5m
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Language(s):English, Cantonese
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jan 9, 2004 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 27, 2004
Genre(s)
Drama
Keyword(s)
starring Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Steve Buscemi, Danny DeVito, directed by Tim Burton, written by John August, drama, box office performance, budget, reviewed by David Ansen, Will Self, Nell Minow, Geoff Andrew, Sara Michelle Fetters, Nick Schager, Christopher Lloyd, Allison Rose, Debbie Lynn Elias, PJ Nabarro, PG-13, father-son tale, storytelling, fantasy, tall tales, journalist, strained relationship, deathbed, anecdotes, British Shakespearean, Richard D Zanuck, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Surround, Dolby SR, Dolby Digital, Dolby A, Dolby Stereo
Worldwide gross: $123,218,424
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $194,375,390
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 709
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 21,196,880
US/Canada gross: $66,809,693
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $105,391,383
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 713
US/Canada opening weekend: $207,377
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $327,134
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,514
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $70,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $110,424,049
Production budget ranking: 343
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $59,463,350
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $24,487,990
ROI to date (est.): 14%
ROI ranking: 1,326
Albert Finney – Edward Bloom
Billy Crudup – Will Bloom
Jessica Lange – Sandra Bloom
Helena Bonham Carter – Jenny, The Witch
Alison Lohman – Sandra Bloom (Young)
Director(s)
Tim Burton
Writer(s)
John August
Producer(s)
Richard D. Zanuck, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Nominated for 1 Oscar
69 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Nominees
All Critics (220) | Top Critics (56) | Fresh (166) | Rotten (54)
When it catches fire, this great-looking movie offers hilarious diversions. And as father and son struggle toward a hard-won reconciliation, Big Fish reveals its beating heart.
March 12, 2018
David Ansen
Newsweek
TOP CRITIC
Big Fish really belongs to Albert Finney, who proves that when it comes to large performances there is no one who can quite match a British Shakespearean with good camera sense.
January 9, 2018
Will Self
London Evening Standard
TOP CRITIC
Delightful, sad father-son story for teens and up.
December 22, 2010 | Rating: 4/5
Nell Minow
Common Sense Media
TOP CRITIC
The film doesn’t so much reject history as selectively rewrite it to its own reactionary, even offensive ends. This might perhaps be just about tolerable were the film funny, illuminating, insightful or moving. It is not.
February 9, 2006
Geoff Andrew
Time Out
TOP CRITIC
As we grow older, we understand that these little white lies, this expansion of the truth, tells just as much about our parents as the actual non fiction-aided history does.
December 9, 2005 | Rating: 4/4
Sara Michelle Fetters
MovieFreak.com
TOP CRITIC
An ebullient tall tale about the magic of imagination and the power of myth.
May 3, 2005 | Rating: A-
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
TOP CRITIC
Tim Burton’s lone outstanding, heartfelt film of the last two decades may not seem like a natural fit with his horror-tinged oeuvre. But in some ways it’s his most intimate, personal movie.
September 20, 2021 | Rating: 4.5/5
Christopher Lloyd
The Film Yap
The sentiment behind the plot is sweet and endearing and the movie is an excellent example of Burton, the master filmmaker, at work.
May 6, 2021 | Rating: 4/5
Allison Rose
FlickDirect
This is a film with heart. From beginning to end. A heartwarming tale about love and family, a father and a son, and that sometimes it’s very hard to separate fact from fiction….but then sometimes, it doesn’t really matter; does it.
November 7, 2019
Debbie Lynn Elias
Behind The Lens
[Director Tim Burton] manages to balance his whimsy and his visual aesthetics in ways that aren’t overwhelming to the story and… are pleasing to me.
June 27, 2019
Rachel Wagner
Rachel’s Reviews (YouTube)
If you want an offbeat, funny, touching movie then Big Fish is for you
December 21, 2018 | Rating: 8.5/10
Matt Hudson
What I Watched Tonight
There’s a covert tyranny in the strived-for moral behind this film which evidently sees itself as a worthy ode to the redeeming value of storytelling and the shaman art.
November 24, 2018 | Rating: 2/5
PJ Nabarro
Patrick Nabarro…
Plot
United Press International journalist Will Bloom and his French freelance photojournalist wife Josephine Bloom, who is pregnant with their first child, leave their Paris base to return to Will’s hometown of Ashton, Alabama on the news that his father, Edward Bloom, stricken with cancer, will soon die, he being taken off chemotherapy treatment. Although connected indirectly through Will’s mother/Edward’s wife, Sandra Bloom, Will has been estranged from his father for three years since his and Josephine’s wedding. Will’s issue with his father is the fanciful tales Edward has told of his life all his life, not only to Will but the whole world. As a child when Edward was largely absent as a traveling salesman, Will believed those stories, but now realizes that he does not know his father, who, as he continues to tell these stories, he will never get to know unless Edward comes clean with the truth before he dies. On the brink of his own family life beginning, Will does not want to be the kind of father Edward has been to him. One of those stories from Edward’s childhood – that he saw his own death in the glass eye of a witch – led to him embracing life since he would not have to fear death knowing when and how it would eventually come. The question is whether Will will be able to reconcile Edward’s stories against his real life, either directly from Edward before he dies and/or from other sources, and thus allow Will to come to a new understanding of himself and his life, past, present and future.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast of Big Fish includes Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, and Alison Lohman.
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