Big Fish : Tim Burton's Most Heartfelt Story

Some films aren't properly appreciated in their release.  Tim Burton's Big Fish is just such a film.  It received mostly positive reviews when it was released, but for the most part no raves.  Big Fish was widely forgotten on the Awards circuit and you do not hear many people discuss it much these days.  

However, I rewatched Fish not too long ago and it affected me more than I remembered being moved in its initial release.  It's wildly imaginative, sentimentaal, adventurous, and most of all magical.  The film is about life, love, family, and being true to oneself.  It's about finding your soulmate and being a father(and a son).  

Albert Finney plays Edward Bloom, a storyteller in the tradition of the Old South.  His supposed exploits are larger than life.  William (Billy Crudup), his only son, feels alienated from him.  A grown man on the cusp of fatherhood himself, Will dislikes all the yarns he grew up loving.  William does not believe he truly knows his father.  One day his mother Sandy (Jessica Lange) calls him up and tells him that Edward is dying of cancer.  William goes to Alabama with his wife to try and mend the fences, but also finally know the real person behind the myths.

The film alternates between the modern, "real life" sections and Edward's fantastical stories giving the "history" of his life.  In these story sections, Ewan McGregor plays the young Edward.  His tales include giants, witches, haunted forests, bank robberies, werewolves, and a multitude of other hard to believe events.