Big Fish
Metascore
58 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 42 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 24 out of 42
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 42
  3. Negative: 3 out of 42
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  1. Premiere
    Reviewed by: Glenn Kenny
    100
    Big Fish really is a big delight.
  2. Film Threat
    Reviewed by: Clint Morris
    90
    A tale that's so enriching, so heartwarming, so funny, so touching and so breathtaking, you'll wonder why the king of wackiness didn't branch out sooner.
  3. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    88
    Director Tim Burton finally hooks the one that got away: a script that challenges and deepens his visionary talent.
  4. Chicago Tribune
    Reviewed by: Michael Wilmington
    88
    A word of warning. Big Fish is so strange and so literary that audiences seeking conventional fare may get impatient with it. But it always takes effort to catch the big ones. This one is worth it.
  5. New York Post
    Reviewed by: Megan Lehmann
    88
    Even with Burton's imagination turning its trademark cartwheels, the film's big beating heart holds the whimsical offshoots steady.
  6. USA Today
    Reviewed by: Mike Clark
    88
    Has enough tasty bait to satisfy an array of moviegoers: Burton fans, Albert Finney fans, fans of tall tales well spun by experts and fans of movies that don't look like any other.
  7. Baltimore Sun
    Reviewed by: Michael Sragow
    88
    This picture boasts a story about a yarn-spinning Southern father (Albert Finney) and a sober-sided son (Billy Crudup) that gives it ballast and staying power beyond anything in previous, precious Burton fables like "Edward Scissorhands" or "Ed Wood."

User Reviews

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User Score
8.3 out of 10

Universal acclaim- based on 208 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 100 out of 114
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 114
  3. Negative: 10 out of 114
  1. AlonsoC.
    10
    A You-Must-See Movie, one of my favorite movies of all time, it has a funny part and has it serious and lovely part, you always learn something about life in this movie. And as Sam F. Says, this is one of those movie where you can say that if don't liked it, it's because you didn't get it. One of the greatest movies of all time (in MY opinion).… Full Review »
  2. NedRyerson1
    8
    This review contains spoilers, click full review link to view. Big Fish is a peculiar movie, even for being a Tim Burton picture. It is about the life of a man whose father loves to tells stories from the time he was young, but the problem is that the anecdotes are hard to believe, because there are extremely rare and unlikely to happen; for example the story of the eye of a witch that can tell you when you are going to die, the one of a giant who is convinced to leave and stop terrifying a town, the circus that is managed by a werewolf or the scape from a war with two Siamese. All this produce constant fights between Edward and his son; and this is one of the topics that Tim Burton treats on his films. Although the other topics from this great director are less developed they are also noticeable: the gothic and expressionist characters (the witch, the giant and the circus manager) and environments (the forest and the witch house); and the contrast between two worlds represented graphically, the present in which Edward tells his stories (darker or opaque colors) and the past in which the stories take place (bright and attractive colors).
    The thing is that does not matter if the anecdotes were real or not, you decide what you want to believe, you can live a boring life and had nothing interesting to tell, no dreams, no hope, no goals; or you can live an amazing life, with endless stories to tell and enjoy being a Big Fish.    … Full Review »
  3. erixs
    10
    Very touching...!! My girlfriend cried after seeing this movie, TWICE !!!
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