Big Eyes

Obviously Hollywood is on a roll with producing one film after another of those that are  based on true stories. They've covered politicians, baseball players, football players, authors, actors, hikers, astronauts, and now painters are being covered in the form of "Big Eyes".

This is based on the true story of Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz), who was one of the most successful painters of the 1950's and early 1960's. The artist earned staggering notoriety by revolutionizing the commercialization and accessibility of popular art with his enigmatic paintings of waifs with big eyes. The truth would eventually be discovered though: Keane's art was actually not created by him at all, but by his wife, Margaret (Amy Adams). The Keanes, it seemed, had been living a lie that had grown to gigantic proportions. This film centers on Margaret's awakening as an artist, the phenomenal success of her paintings, and her tumultuous relationship with her husband, who was catapulted to international fame while taking credit for her work. This subsequently resulted in a huge legal battle in the mid 1960's in a controversial trial to beat none.

Others to round out the cast are Krysten Ritter as DeeAnn, a friend of Margaret's, Jason Schwartzman as Ruben, an art dealer, Danny Houston as Dick Nolan, an investigative reporter, Terence Stamp as John Canaday, an art critic, Jon Polito as Enrico Banducci, Elisabetta Fantone as Marta, James Saito as Judge, Guido Furlani as Dino Olivetti, Delaney Raye as Young Jane, and Madeleine Arthur as Older Jane, Margaret's daughter.

This was well paced and staged by director Tim Burton ("Pee-wee's Big Adventure" '85, "Beetlejuice" '88, "Batman" '89, "Edward Scissorhands" '90, "Batman Returns" '92, "Ed Wood" '94, "Mars Attacks!" '96, "Sleepy Hollow" '99, "Planet of the Apes" '01, "Big Fish" '03, "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" '05, "Corpse Bride" '05, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" '07, "Alice in Wonderland" '10, "Dark Shadows" '12, "Frankenweenie" '12). What actually surprised me was that Burton directed this. As you peruse his resume, he typically doesn't direct this kind of film. He's more attached to the whimsical, dark, quirky, oddballish type of movie, but he really pulled this off. The way that these two characters slowly started to deteriorate before one's eyes was well executed. Of course, both Adams and Waltz are phenomenal actors, Burton's direction was spot on. It was written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski and with the exception of a couple of places that were a bit jumpy, it was a tight, thought-out script.

If one is to see this, it will be more for Adams and Waltz's performances more than anything else. The way they clicked together was amazing. And the story? As you see Walter Keane slowly deteriorate, you see Margaret Keane slowly start realizing that she can be her own person and nobody else's. Definitely an interesting ride.

Out of 4 Stars: 3.5                           Rated: PG-13                          106mins.