Big Eyes (2014)

We all want to be artists, and it seems like every one person is an artist. And with Hollywood, there are numerous films about people wanting to be a successful artist. And the most notable example of this is the 2014 feature, “Big Eyes” by Tim Burton. With this film, he succeeds in bringing back the charm from his early successes, and incorporating a more modern twist to the idea of wanting to be an artist. In some ways, “Big Eyes” is definitely a movie that captures the potential and quality of a Tim Burton production, however, there are some problems with it. This movie itself is good, and there's a lot of great detail for this movie to showcase. “Big Eyes” is a Tim Burton project that reflects the special need of wanting to be an artist, but it is hard to understand what that artist is going through.

The story involves a painter named Margaret (Amy Adams), who enjoys painting children with really big eyes as the main focus of attention. She comes across another painter named Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), to whom she marries. Together, they are happy; or it seems that they are happy. But, when Walter starts selling Margaret’s painting under his name, things get a little bit complicated. Can Margaret keep her dignity, as well as her sanity, in order to keep the truth hidden?

“Big Eyes” is a good movie to watch.

The cast his great as both Adams and Waltz deliver great chemistry between each other, and their characters play off each other very well. It really sharpens the attention between real life and the struggle of maintaining peace from the outside world.

The cinematography and set design look absolutely amazing, as the film captures the style of the 1960s very well, as do the costumes also providing an interesting insight into the style of the era.

Another thing worth mentioning is the pacing fits the movie just fine; everything moves nicely, and the story grabs the viewer’s attention.

Yet it's the way Tim Burton handles the entire production that really surprises the viewer. Normally, this would not qualify as a standard Tim Burton production, i.e. something along the lines of say “Beetlejuice” or “Sleepy Hollow”, but here, Burton is going back to his “Ed Wood” days of telling the story of a misfit that deserved more attention in the spotlight. Which is ironic, as the writers of “Ed Wood”, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, also wrote this movie.

However, there are some problems with the movie, in general. For one thing, while this movie is based off of true events, there is bound to be some historical inaccuracies throughout the entire production. Now, this is a common complaint in most of these types of films, but here, it does get somewhat annoying to see something that was made up just for the film.

Another thing that can turn off a fan of Burton's work is the score by frequent Burton collaborator Danny Elfman .The score itself isn't too bad, but it lacks the off-color touch that Elfman and Burton are known for. There's not a enough quirky or unique sounds that Elfman usually brings forth towards “Big Eyes”, and that can be somewhat of a distraction to fans of Burton.

These are minor complaints, and nothing to distracting from the main feature film.

In conclusion, while “Big Eyes” is a good interpretation of recreating an artist's work on the big screen, even if it somewhat flawed from the overall experience.