Big Fish

Overview

Big Fish (2003)
Production Company: Columbia Pictures
Producers: Richard D. Zanuck, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay: Daniel Wallace, John August
Story: Michael McDowell, Larry Wilson
Camera: Chris Lebenzon
Music: Danny Elfman
Production Designer: Dennis Gassner
Cast: Albert Finney (Edward Bloom), Ewan McGregor (younger Edward Bloom), Jessica Lange (Sandra Bloom), Alison Lohman (younger Sandra), Billy Crudup (Will Bloom), Marion Cotillard (Josephine), Helena Bonham Carter (Jenny), Robert Guillaume (Dr. Bennett), Matthew McGrory (Karl the Giant), Danny DeVito (Amos Calloway), Steve Buscemi (Norther Winslow)
Running time: 125 min

The story revolves around a dying father and his son, who is trying to learn more about his dad by piecing together the stories he has gathered over the years. The son winds up re-creating his father's elusive life in a series of legends and myths inspired by the few facts he knows. Through these tales, the son begins to understand his father's great feats and his great failings.

Big Fish is a 2003 fantasy drama film, directed by Tim Burton and written by John August. It is loosely based on the novel Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace, and stars Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman, Steve Buscemi, Helena Bonham Carter, Marion Cotillard and Danny DeVito, amongst others.The film was initially planned to be directed by Steven Spielberg before Burton took on the project, following the death of his own father. The film was mostly shot in Alabama, and had a much less gothic tone than Burton's other films such as Edward Scissorhands and Sleepy Hollow. Critics hailed the film as Burton's masterpiece, and it received four Golden Globe nominations and one Oscar nomination for Danny Elfman's original score.