When the conversation turns to Tim Burton’s best movies, the same titles tend to surface: Beetlejuice, his Batman movies, Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure. Even The Nightmare Before Christmas usually gets a mention, despite being directed by Henry Selick. Less likely to enter the discussion is Big Fish, Burton’s 2003 fantasy about a father whose life sounds too extraordinary to believe. That’s a shame, because it’s some of his very best work. It’s also available to stream for free right now on YouTube and Tubi.
Big Fish follows Will Bloom (Billy Crudup), a man trying to reconnect with his semi-estranged, dying father, Edward (Albert Finney). Edward has spent a lifetime telling stories about his younger self, played by Ewan McGregor in a series of elaborate flashbacks. His adventures involve an 11-foot-tall giant, conjoined twin singers, and a seven-foot-long catfish. Will has heard them all before. What he wants, while there’s still time, is to meet the man behind the tall tales.
That tension gives Big Fish its emotional weight, but the movie’s immediate appeal is its charm. Much of that comes from the two actors playing Edward. McGregor and Finney don’t particularly resemble each other, yet they’re completely convincing as the same man at opposite ends of his life.
McGregor’s Edward is a kind, talkative dreamer with seemingly bottomless confidence. He’s handsome and knows how to hold an audience, but never comes across as especially cocky or self-important. You understand why people gravitate toward him, and why so many would happily follow him into an adventure. Arriving between the latter two Star Wars prequels and two years after Moulin Rouge!, the role makes excellent use of McGregor’s movie-star charisma.
Finney brings a different quality to the older Edward. He has the appeal of a favorite uncle who always has another story to tell, even if you’ve heard it before and suspect he’s embellishing the details. His timing is occasionally inappropriate, and his insistence on entertaining everyone can be exhausting — particularly for his son. But you can still see the young man McGregor plays beneath the years of practiced storytelling.
Both versions are such good company that the film moves easily between them. Edward’s adventures give Burton room to indulge in all manner of fanciful detours. Did Edward really help rob a bank? Did he actually work in a circus? It’s easy to get swept up in the stories even as Will’s frustration with them becomes increasingly understandable.
The soundtrack adds to the pleasure, with Elvis Presley’s “All Shook Up,” Buddy Holly’s “Everyday,” and Canned Heat’s “Let’s Work Together” helping carry Edward through his improbable life. There’s a little of the jukebox exuberance associated with James Gunn’s movies, filtered through Burton’s fairy-tale sensibility.
Big Fish doesn’t feel like a Tim Burton movie
For long stretches of Big Fish, it’s easy to forget who directed it. That may help explain why it gets overlooked in discussions of Burton’s work. His whimsy is unmistakable, but the bright colors and sunny Southern landscapes largely replace the looming shadows and crooked architecture of his signature style.
Edward is an equally striking departure. He isn’t a misunderstood outsider hiding in a decrepit mansion. He’s outgoing, handsome, and popular, with an ability to win over almost anyone he meets. In another Burton movie, you might expect someone like him to be the smug rival making the hero’s life miserable. Here, his confidence is part of what makes the fantasy so inviting.
The film also occupies an odd spot in Burton’s career, between his divisive Planet of the Apes and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory adaptations. With no familiar franchise or instantly recognizable gothic hero to keep it in the conversation, Big Fish can slip through the cracks.
It deserves better. For all its visual imagination, the movie’s greatest achievement is making Edward and Will’s difficult relationship feel worth untangling. You can enjoy the father’s stories and still understand why his son needs something more from him.
That conflict builds to a life-affirming ending that changes how you see everything that came before it. I won’t spoil the details, but it might leave you thinking about the storyteller in your own family — and what they’ve been trying to tell you all these years. It certainly did for me.
Big Fish is streaming now for free on Tubi and YouTube.