---
title: "Big Fish"
year: 2003
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/big-fish"
fi1m_id: "big-fish"
imdb_id: "tt0319061"
tmdb_id: 587
wikidata_id: "Q278997"
fi1m_score: 78
critics_score: 58
critics_reviews: 9
published: "2026-09-14"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:17.732386+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Big Fish (2003)

Directed by Tim Burton · 2h 05m · MPA PG-13 · Adventure, Fantasy, Drama

## Identity

Big Fish

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/big-fish
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** big-fish
- **IMDb ID:** tt0319061
- **TMDB ID:** 587
- **Wikidata ID:** Q278997
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0319061/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/587, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q278997

**Fi1m score: 78** · Critics 58 from 9 reviews

*In a sentence:* Albert Finney makes us forgive a father we would hesitate to ask for directions

> Tim Burton’s family fantasy is too fond of its own whimsy, but Albert Finney makes the tall tales matter. We recommend it for the father and son, with patience for the detours.

## Synopsis

Ed Bloom tells his life through stories in which fantasy and memory are hard to separate. Ewan McGregor plays the younger Ed, with Albert Finney as the older man, while Billy Crudup plays his son Will. The relationship between father and son is strained by their different attitudes to the truth, and the film moves between their present-day difficulties and Ed’s accounts of his past. Jessica Lange and Alison Lohman share the role of Sandra Bloom. As Will tries to understand his father, the stories raise questions about what a family knows of its own history.

## Review

*Big Fish* is an affectionate, sometimes over-insistent film about a father whose stories have become a problem for his son. Tim Burton makes the fantasy inviting, and the family scenes give it enough purpose to justify most of the wandering. John August’s screenplay, adapted from Daniel Wallace’s novel, asks how much someone can be understood through the stories they choose to tell. We recommend it, though anyone who shares Will Bloom’s impatience with his father will occasionally feel that the film has taken Ed’s side before hearing the complaint.

Ewan McGregor gives the young Ed an eagerness that makes the fantastic episodes easy to enter; he seems entirely comfortable with their extravagance, and encourages us to settle in too. Albert Finney, playing the older Ed, is more interesting because his charm comes with the expectation of being indulged. We were moved by the hurt in his performance when that indulgence meets Billy Crudup’s sceptical Will. Finney makes the storytelling seem so much a part of Ed’s pride that a request for plain facts can feel like an insult.

Crudup has the less rewarding assignment, repeatedly having to question the flights of fancy we have been encouraged to enjoy. He gives Will’s resistance a useful stiffness: it is possible to understand the son while wishing he would relax. August could have allowed him more room, because the family conflict becomes too simple whenever doubt itself is treated as a character defect. Jessica Lange’s Sandra supplies warmth without the same insistence on being liked, and her presence helps the domestic scenes settle.

Philippe Rousselot’s cinematography makes the fantastical flashbacks easy to enjoy as pictures, even when the stories themselves are slight. Dennis Gassner’s production design helps each invention feel worth a look, though we sometimes wanted the places to be stranger rather than merely pleasant. Burton is good at encouraging us to linger over these sights, but less successful at making them feel dangerous. Danny Elfman’s music presses harder for emotion, occasionally making a tender moment feel overexplained when Finney’s performance has already done enough.

Chris Lebenzon’s editing has the awkward job of moving between the fantastical past and the resistant son in the present, and the joins are generally clear. The larger pacing problem belongs to August and Burton: another fanciful episode does not always change what we understand about Ed. Some stretches ask us to admire his imagination for longer than it deserves, especially once we have grasped why Will finds it tiring. At 125 minutes, the film gives us enough time to share a little of that fatigue.

Most critics disagree with us, finding Burton’s gentler fantasy too sentimental to carry the father-son drama. We think they undervalue Finney, whose mixture of pleasure and wounded pride makes the reconciliation theme matter. Measured against the darker fantasy associated with Burton, the film can seem short of danger. As a family fantasy, though, it has a worthwhile concern: what happens when the way a parent enjoys remembering things becomes exhausting for a child. Choose it for an evening when a little sentiment is welcome, and do not expect every excursion to earn its length.

*Fi1m score 78, published 14 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

The reviews are sharply divided on Big Fish, with a slight lean towards disappointment rather than a settled consensus. Praise centres on Burton’s fantastical imagery and the warmth of his tall tales: supporters find that his visual imagination serves a touching story about family, truth and the value of make-believe. Empire welcomes the connection between his familiar style and broader emotional concerns, while the Evening Standard singles out Albert Finney’s range and emotional force.

The disagreement is largely over whether that warmth earns its sentimentality. Slant Magazine finds the film moving without being manipulative, but detractors repeatedly describe the fantasy as soft, the father-son drama as laboured and Burton’s usual darkness as diminished. The spread is wide: admirers embrace the gentleness that others find dull. Time Out raises a distinct objection to the treatment of history and gender roles, alongside its dissatisfaction with the humour and emotion.

## Straight answers

**Is Big Fish worth watching?**

*Big Fish* is worth watching for anyone who can forgive a family fantasy for being fond of its own whimsy, and we scored it 78. Albert Finney gives the older Ed Bloom a wounded pride that makes the father-and-son quarrel matter. Expect some of Tim Burton's fanciful detours to run longer than they earn.

**How long is Big Fish, and what is it rated?**

*Big Fish* runs 2h 05m and is rated PG-13 by the MPA in the US. It is an adventure and fantasy film.

**Where can I watch Big Fish in the US?**

*Big Fish* is streaming on Tubi and Amazon Prime Video in the US, and it is also available to rent from Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV from $3.99. It leaves Tubi on 1 October. Availability is checked daily; the links above go straight to each service.

**How does Big Fish compare to Cinema Paradiso?**

*Big Fish* and [*Cinema Paradiso*](https://film.one/film/cinema-paradiso) are both sentimental films about memory and the difficulty of looking back, but the earlier film is the more affecting of the two. Tornatore's village drama rests on a friendship that survives its own sweetness, while Burton's fantasy leans on Finney to carry stretches of pleasant but slight invention. Choose *Cinema Paradiso* for tears, *Big Fish* for a lighter evening with a father you half forgive.

**Is Big Fish based on a true story or a book?**

*Big Fish* is based on a novel by Daniel Wallace, adapted for the screen by John August; it is not a true story. The film asks how much a son can know of a father who tells his life through tall tales, and you need no acquaintance with the book to follow it.

**What should I watch after Big Fish?**

After *Big Fish*, try [*After Life*](https://film.one/film/after-life) (1998, Fi1m 85): A quieter fantasy about choosing the memories that make a life. Then [*Cinema Paradiso*](https://film.one/film/cinema-paradiso) (1988, Fi1m 84): Another sentimental account of memory, affection and the difficulty of looking back.

### Reviews we read (14)

- **The AV Club**, Nathan Rabin (A-): Burton rebounds strongly with a visual feast and emotional power that recalls Edward Scissorhands. The film makes a strong case for the life-affirming power of make-believe through its generous spirit and fantastical storytelling. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/big-fish-1798199160)
- **Empire**, William Thomas (85/100, inferred): The film aligns Burton's visual style with a story that has more than one foot in the real world, resulting in charming, witty and warm-hearted filmmaking. It is praised for transcending Burton's usual world to connect with wider emotional concerns about family and truth. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/big-fish-review/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Ed Gonzalez (85/100, inferred): Big Fish is a sentimental but never manipulative nonsecular tall tale about the desire to live with wonderment. Burton's fantastical set pieces and images, saturated with love, single out the power of myth over reason in illuminating family connections and spirituality. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/big-fish/)
- **Evening Standard**, Will Self (80/100, inferred): Burton reaches an apogee with this tale of tall tales and father-son reconciliation. Albert Finney's performance is singled out as the standout, delivering a broad range of emotions that moves even a jaded critic. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/magical-mythical-tour-7437554.html)
- **Radio Times**, Brian Pendreigh (2/5): The film drifts colourfully along but ultimately lacks the edge that made Edward Scissorhands so powerful and strange. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-7k1hpg/big-fish/)
- **The Independent**, Nicholas Barber (40/100, inferred): The critic finds the fantastical flashbacks full of expected wonders but too fluffy and innocuous to grip tightly. The present-day father-son reconciliation theme is overdone and the film is ultimately a disappointment. [Read](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/reviews/big-fishgame-over-kasparov-and-the-machinescary-movie-3-75414.html)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (35/100, inferred): Bradshaw finds the film not weird enough, with Burton's fantasy decaffeinated into a cutesy family drama that lacks edge or dark side. He criticizes the sentimental ending and calls the result a tiny bit dull. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,1128909,00.html)
- **Time Out**, GA (30/100, inferred): The critic finds the film not funny, illuminating, insightful or moving, criticizing its portrayal of history and gender roles. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/big-fish)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Manohla Dargis: Burton's wistful film about fathers, sons and tall tales showcases his imagination in fantastical scenarios, making it the straightest entry in his repertoire. The shift to family melodrama and the son's reproach drags it down, though Jessica Lange brightens those sections. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2003-dec-10-et-dargis10-story.html)
- **Screen Daily**: A gently whimsical tale of reconciliation and fabulism that is the director's most sentimental piece to date, repositioning him as a mainstream filmmaker. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/big-fish/4016278.article)
- **The New Yorker**, Anthony Lane: The film risks mush with its sentimental picaresque and nervous fantasizing that undercuts Burton's usual wit, feeling like a softening up rather than growth. Some Burton-esque moments stand out, but the overall approach to tall tales and the circus trope disappoints. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/12/15/his-story-her-story)
- **The New York Times**, A. O. Scott: The critic finds the magical-realist fable thin and soft, with unpersuasive inventions despite some startling scenes. Burton's visual sensibility is praised but the storytelling falters and the film proves ultimately forgettable. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/10/movies/film-review-hook-line-and-sinker-a-life-of-telling-tall-tales.html)
- **The Times**, Cosmo Landesman (One star): Landesman says Burton tries too hard to repeat the past and the film ends up crushed under the weight of its own whimsy, with the father/son conflict never taking off. He calls it a comeback attempt that falls flat. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/article/film-fishing-for-a-little-inspiration-9c6325bmvhz)
- **Eye for Film**, Angus Wolfe Murray (1.5/5): The critic laments the film's excessive sentimentality, which he believes has stripped Burton of his signature darkness, and declares it a failure on every level that wastes its talented cast. He singles out the dysfunctional father-son relationship and the jarring contrast between the realistic and fantastical elements for particular criticism. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/big-fish-film-review-by-angus-wolfe-murray)

## Details

- **Director:** Tim Burton
- **Director:** Tim Burton
- **Screenplay:** John August
- **Novel:** Daniel Wallace
- **Cinematography:** Philippe Rousselot
- **Editor:** Chris Lebenzon
- **Music:** Danny Elfman
- **Production design:** Dennis Gassner
- **Costume design:** Colleen Atwood
- **Producer:** Bruce Cohen, Dan Jinks, Richard D. Zanuck
- **Cast:** Ewan McGregor as Ed Bloom (young); Albert Finney as Ed Bloom (senior); Billy Crudup as Will Bloom; Jessica Lange as Sandra Bloom (senior); Helena Bonham Carter as Jenny (young & senior) / The Witch; Alison Lohman as Sandra Bloom (young); Robert Guillaume as Dr. Bennett (senior); Marion Cotillard as Josephine
- **Runtime:** 2h 05m
- **Certificate (MPA):** PG-13
- **Release (the US):** 9 January 2004
- **Genres:** Adventure, Fantasy, Drama
- **Also in:** [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2003); [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 2003)
- **Budget:** $70 million
- **Box office:** $123 million

## Where to watch in the US

- Tubi: free, hd, leaving 2026-10-01
- Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, uhd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $7.99, uhd
- Apple TV: buy $12.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-14.*

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, IL, IN, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, UA, US, ZA. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- Academy Awards 2004: Best Original Score (nominated)

## If you liked this

- *The Adventures of Baron Munchausen* (1988): For another extravagant storyteller whose inventions make ordinary life seem rather underfurnished.
- *After Life* (1998), Fi1m 85: A quieter fantasy about choosing the memories that make a life. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/after-life.md)
- *A Monster Calls* (2016): For family pain approached through fantasy, with more room for anger.
- *Cinema Paradiso* (1988), Fi1m 84: Another sentimental account of memory, affection and the difficulty of looking back. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/cinema-paradiso.md)
- *The Fall* (2006): For elaborate make-believe shaped by the difficult feelings of its teller.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/big-fish