Big Fish (2003)

This is another film that I didn't like the first time I watched it.  Perhaps I watched it just after having seen Edward Scissorhands for the first time.  I was so blown away by Edward Scissorhands, way more than I expected to be (more on that when I get to it).  So I did Big Fish a disservice by watching it soon afterwards.  I came at it with expectations and it didn't fit in to them.

Then, a few years later, every second blog I read seemed to rave about this film.  Coincidence or something, I don't know, but for a month I felt like all these writers I didn't know were telling me that I simply had to give Big Fish another chance.  I did so, and couldn't understand what I hadn't liked about it the first time around.

The most beautiful thing about this movie is that it champions the oral tradition.  It's all about the telling and passing down of stories.  Of taking the time to tell them and listening to them.  Of how important they are in the building of a child's imagination and how stories can connect families and friends.  The sight of everyone telling stories at the funeral is wonderful.

Then there's the recurrence of "This isn't how I die".  And the popcorn moment, which is stunning.  And the moment in the bath... It's not often that you see such relaxed romance between older couples in films.  Or couples of any age for that matter.

There's actually so many things I love about this film that it is an utter mystery to me that I didn't enjoy it the first time around.  This movie inspires me.  There is wonder in it.  It makes me want to go for a walk.

Final Thought:  I swear, Danny DeVito missed his calling.  He should have been a ringmaster.

Up Next:  Billy Elliot (2000)