*** Official BIG FISH Discussion Thread (1 Viewer)

[Carlo_M]

But if you're suggesting that there's some form of moderation going on, you're mistaken. There isn't, there hasn't been, and assuming the discussion remains civil, there won't be.

Thanks for the reassurance, Michael. That's what worried me the most. There have, to be sure, been shots fired from both sides. It's just that within the last couple of pages, it seemed like those who defended the film (and I liked it very much but haven't voiced my opinion in this thread before my last post) were made to seem like they were the aggressors when in fact, an argument could be made that they were provoked. I feared that this thread might be closed, and those who sided with the film painted as the reasons why it would be closed.

That being said, I generally agree with your previous post - in that sometimes films just work for some and not for others. I do believe there are sometimes reasons (and that not everyone is a blank slate when they watch a movie, trying to be even-handed in judgment - but this applies both ways, not just to critics of a film) why people's opinions are colored, but this is the perfect place (and thread) to discuss those differences without seeking to belittle one side or the other.

I don't normally try to butt-in on heated threads but I loved this film so much that I would hate to see the Discussion Thread about it spiral into just heated mudslinging on both sides.

 

[Tino]

Ya gotta admit, Rich sure has a way with words!

 

[Vickie_M]

I won't be reading and posting to this thread anymore. This movie is too wonderful, magical and emotional to fight over. I'm sorry I added to it. If it doesn't work for someone, fine. Too bad. Whatever. I loved it. My husband loved it. That's all that matters to me.

 

[Bill Street]

I think the point that you can't really quantify why some people love a film and some hate it is a valid one. Personally, I loved the film. Which is odd because in my mind it is pretty similar to Forrest Gump, which I hated. Both movies are tear-jerkers, but for some reason I did not mind the obvious emotional manipulation in Big Fish, whereas it bothered the hell out of me in Forrest Gump.

I guess I just enjoyed the themes of the film and the ride that got us there. The whimsy, the odd characters mixing together with the theme of a son getting to understand his dying father. I know many people whose parents are very popular, and the kids have no clue why. It was interesting that this explored that.

Bill S.

 

[Carlo_M]

Yeah Bill, yesterday I was in no mood to really analyze why I loved the film (it was still too fresh in my mind) but for me, these themes are what "did it for me."

1. The father/son relationship, as my dad and I don't have the best relationship (though not the worst, either).
2. The getting close to death scenario - I'm only approaching 30, but man, when you were 20 you thought this day would never come. As you shed your adolescence and young adulthood, you realize that you are speeding towards the inevitable.
3. The Big Fish stories - I read plenty of imaginative fiction (from Stephen King to Tolkien) and love those kind of things - improbable stories based on (at least partially) the real world.
4. The performances: Ewan is excellent always. I think Billy Crudup is one of the most overlooked actors today.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Hi!

Haven't seen the movie, but it seems to have evoked some strong emotions, so should be a good one!!

I have a question regarding the music they have on the tv trailers for the film.

There is this song that sounds familiar.. Ends something like "...yeeah, back home". In the first couple posts it's suggested that it is Your Move, by Yes.

But I found a clip of the song and it is nothing like the one I'm refering to.

Can anyone shed some light on this?

Thanks!

 

[Bill Street]

Some commercials used "Your Move/All Good People" from Yes... other commercials used "Salisbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel.

Bill S.

 

[ToddP]

doug,

The song you're referring to is indeed "Salisbury Hill" by Peter Gabriel, and it is a great song.

 

[doug zdanivsky]

Great, thanks!

 

[JonZ]

It was also used in Vanilla Sky

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Got around to seeing this film. from me.

Comments in this thread remind me of a person watching a movie they didn't like. They sat around with their arms folded, huffing and puffing all the time. That's the picture I get at least.

 

[Dennis Castro]

Through most of this film I was sitting there thinking that the visuals are fantastic and Burton's imagery is magical as always, but other than that this is just ok.

Then came the end. It blindsided me like a defensive end does a quarterback. I didn't see or sense it coming. I thought I would walk out of he film with the.."It wasn’t all that" feeling. Boy was I wrong. Burton brings everything together in the final act so beautifully(just like Scott said a few pages back), I too sat there with tears streaming and smiling, faking like I was watching the credits.

 

[ChrisMatson]

My wife and I finally "caught" Big Fish over the weekend.

This was close to my experience too:


My wife was crying while I was holding back as best I could. I wasn't sad, I was touched. As many others have noted, I can also relate to the theme of not truly knowing your father.

 

[Brian Kissinger]

Somewhere in this thread, someone wrote that this film seemed to divide people into the love it or hate it group. I have to admit, I'm somewhat in the middle. I did enjoy the film, but wasn't wowed by it either.

I loved the way the film progressed through Ed's stories. And it is fun trying to imagine what actually happened with Ed. And I like the way Ed looked at life. I didn't like some of the "forced" emotion this films lays on you. I didn't like the fact that Ed was touted as such a great guy, when in fact he missed out on much with his family because he was often away from home for great lengths. Everyday he spent "re-building" Spectre, he missed out on some great things. And this seemed to be one of the major driving forces behind Will's problems with his father. And while Will was able to accept that was who his father is, it didn't make it any more right. And I'm not saying that Ed was a bad man, but everything that goes up, must come down. It just seems that we were given the ups, but not the downs.

I loved the stories. I bet most people do this on some level or another. I imagine there are quite a few things in my memory that aren't exactly what happened. The mind has a way of creating, expanding, or elaborating events.

I loved the bathtub scene. This was one of the few moments where I actually felt something, not felt like I was "supposed" to feel something. I think I'm in love with Jessica Lange.

I liked the way the film ended. While Will may or may not have resolved the issues he had with his father, he certainly made enough of a connection to let himself into his father's world.

All in all, I think there was a great thing in the works here. It just came up a bit flat for me now and then.

 

[SteveGon]

Wow. I wouldn't have imagined Big Fish to be so devisive. I saw it last week and thought it was overall a good film, but not one I'm particularly enthused about (hence the reason I'm just now browsing this thread). Despite the fact that I've experienced the death of my father, BF failed to resonate with me. For me, the fantastic elements of the film tended to overshadow any emotional content in the story of Ed and Will Bloom which, as well-presented as it was, wasn't anything we haven't seen before. I'm middle of the road on this one...

 

[Zen Butler]

I know in my mind, this was not a perfect film. In the end though, I was so touched it was quite difficult to sort out any unemotional opinion. It looks as if some are truly touched by it, such as myself. I need to see it again. So far, my favorite of the year. These weren't tears as a result of "Hallmark style" manipulation. This (reaction)came from somewhere deep within myself, or the film's director, to tough to tell. Very moving. Thus, this meandering post of mine for which I apologize.

 

[Darrell Bratz]

Fascinating thread.

I wept not only at the final scenes, but once or twice earlier in the film. This is not because I assess it as a great film (I don't), but because it was clearly plugging into things about myself that I can't articulate - my buttons were successfully pushed. "Father" movies do this to me. Certain other movies (some good, some soso) have done the same trick for I'm sure very similar reasons - the endings to Goodbye Mr. Chips, Field of Dreams, and How Green Was My Valley all just destroy me emotionally.

At some point, the more cool-headed evaluation of these films is (for me) subsumed by the deep emotional connection they have wrought from me - they're beyond evaluation. Big Fish, has, I guess I'm forced to say, joined the list.

 

[Billy C.]

Something I didn't quite get:

What did Will Bloom see in the pool as he was cleaning it? It seems that we are lead to believe that it could be a "big fish" but it's obviously not.

 

[Michael Reuben]

"Father" movies do this to me.

Darrell (and everyone else who expressed similar sentiments), then I highly recommend seeking out The Barbarian Invasions, now an Oscar nominee for best foreign language film. I don't think I would have liked Big Fish under any circumstances, but my opinion of it was undoubtedly lowered even further because I had so recently seen this film which brilliantly portrays, without overt sentimentality, the dying reconciliation of a father with his son. (It covers a lot of other territory as well.)

M.

 

[Javier_Huerta]

Fantastic. One of the best movies I've ever watched. Stunning.

Then again, many people in the theater left the place thinking it was "bull".

I asked a friend of mine what he thought about it. He disliked it, and then said something like "that's because I never liked my father very much".

But the rest of my friends loved it.
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