Big Fish
Directed by Tim BurtonThroughout his life Edward Bloom has always been a man of big appetites, enormous passions and tall tales. In his later years, he remains a huge mystery to his son, William. Now, to get to know the real man, Will begins piecing together a true picture of his father from flashbacks of his amazing adventures.
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Big Fish Ratings & Reviews
- wipeout630September 12, 2025Unexpectedly wholesome and exactly what we all need to be reminded of.
- levi_v1November 23, 2025Truly beautiful. I think it's written to let your imagination translate it in many different ways and it's so so good.
- Callum3d ago⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ – Big Fish – The truth hidden inside the telling. This is another one of those films that really deserves six stars, but the scale won’t allow it. It’s a story about stories — or maybe a story about the stories we tell ourselves so life feels bigger, kinder, and worth the trouble. At its heart, it follows a son who has spent his life hearing about his father’s extraordinary exploits. To him, they’ve always felt like exaggerations — the colourful musings of a man trying to make up for years of absence. Their relationship is strained, distant, and unresolved. And early on, we learn the clock is already running out. His father doesn’t have long left. To make matters worse, at least from the son’s point of view, the stories don’t stop. They intensify. And now they’re being told to his wife, who encourages them — treating them not as ramblings, but as something meaningful. To the son, it all looks like the indulgence of a dying man clinging to fantasy. And yet, each story is wonderful in its own right. Larger than life, absurd, tender, and full of colour. You’re invited to enjoy them even while sharing the son’s frustration — because surely none of this can be real. Until the moment comes, as it has to. And suddenly, one by one, the characters from those stories appear. Not as myths. Not as metaphors. Just… people. The stories were true. All of them. The final revelation isn’t really a twist at all. The father never lied. He never misled. He just told the truth in a way that made life worth listening to. The tragedy is that the son couldn’t see it sooner — not because he was wrong, but because the truth was simply too fantastic to believe. This film gently reminds you that some people are straight shooters, some things aren’t what they seem, and sometimes the real failure is not listening closely enough. You can live a quiet life. Or you can live a great one. Either way, the story you leave behind matters. Now if you’ll excuse me — where are my damn tissues. 🍷 A deep red wine by firelight — rich, emotional, and guaranteed to leave a lump in your throat long after the glass is empty.
- Otacon!January 17, 2026This movie is great for me. You will need to think about the meaning and the storyline because it can be easy to misunderstand the message or the point. The characters are really well though and the cast is great in the interpretation.
- olijonJanuary 12, 2026Top Ten!
- Julie JonesJanuary 12, 2026This is a movie that will truly make you believe in fairy tales! This movie had high morals and a deep story line with dramatic and sometimes unbelievably fantastic turns. If you enjoyed "Forrest Gump", this will almost surely be another favorite. Definitely recommend it
- Marcelo ScatenaJuly 31, 2025Every 5 years or so I watch this movie again. Every time I interpret it a bit differently. They really nailed the 'growing up' thing to its core.
- Sunny Rabius SunnyJuly 17, 2025Loved this.
- mickerdooAugust 15, 2025Gets me every time. My favorite Burton. Fantastic cast with a charming, epic and outrageous story. So fun while being heartwarming.
- ርልዪረAugust 3, 2025Based on the novel of the same name, Tom Burton's 2003 fantasy drama "Big Fish" acts as a heartwarming tale of fiction and reality and whether or not one can identify if the both are one and the same, and sees a son going on a journey to learn the truth about his father's past life to see if what he's been told are all lies. We get flashbacks into Edward Bloom's past as older Edward, played tremendously by Albert Finney, recalls the many events of his past as his younger self played with such endearment by Ewan McGregor is truly a big fish in a small pond and find himself in various places with extraordinary people and truly living a fairytale life if what he tells his son (Billy Crudup) are to be seen as highly fabricated. McGregor and Finney work together to make Edward seem like the exact same man from start to finish, and his romance with his wife Sandra (Jessica Lange/Alison Lohman) is very sweet yet it feels weird to promote the message of being weird and stalkerish to get who you deem the love of your life even while she's with someone else. The surrealism blends very well with the reality of life as the fish is an analogy for those who feel they are just too big of a person for their small town and need to explore and live their lives to its potential, but the film's main message seems to suggest that the stories we hear about others, whether we believe them to be true or not, become so engrained in who they are that they help to build the mythology and legacy they leave behind forever.
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Big Fish Trivia
Big Fish was released on December 4, 2003.
Big Fish was directed by Tim Burton.
Big Fish has a runtime of 2h 5m.
Big Fish was produced by Richard D. Zanuck, Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks.
The key characters in Big Fish are Ed Bloom (young) (Ewan McGregor), Ed Bloom (senior) (Albert Finney), Will Bloom (Billy Crudup).
Big Fish is rated PG-13.
Big Fish is a Drama, Adventure, Fantasy film.
Big Fish has an audience rating of 8.9 out of 10.