Big Fish is, at its heart, a story about a son understanding his father. While there are various lessons to be learned throughout Edward Bloom's many stories, such as the power of dedication, the acceptance of people as they are, and the fulfillment that can be found through helping others, each and everyone has already been heard by Edward's son Will. After his wedding, and feeling the spotlight stolen on a day meant to be about him and his wife, Will doesn't speak to his father for 3 years. After receiving a call from his mother though, Will learns his father is dying, and he and his wife pack up and head back down to Alabama to be with him. During this time Will desperately tries to unravel his father's stories from their unbelievable shells to truly know his father before his passing, however with each attempt Will only becomes more frustrated as his father refuses to deviate from the werewolves and the magic fish he had spoken of so many times before. After coming to find many of the outrageous parts of his father's stories really were true, Will makes one final attempt to complete the image of his father by visiting a home that his father owns, a small cottage in the storied town of Spectre. Inside he finds a woman named Ginny, a small girl who had at one time been in love with Edward. Ginny reveals that Will's theories of adultery and misdoings from his father were false and that some things never spoken about, like buying the entirety of Spectre and leaving it to the people, were as much if not more magical than the characters in his father's stories. As the story begins to conclude, Will tells his father the story of his passing, how everyone from his many stories waits for him at the lake, and as he is let go, he becomes what he always had been, a big fish in a pond too small for him. In the end, we see at Edward's funeral all these characters return as they truly are to celebrate the life of Edward Bloom.

The film has a star-studded cast who for the most part seem to give it their all. Ewan McGregor as young Edward Bloom is wonderful, Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi, and Helena Bonham Carter all are as wonderful as they always are in the film, each one used to their fullest extent.

Despite many of the stories having fundamental problems when compared to reality, they all feel as though they are close enough to reality to understand what really happened, and when that isn't possible, the lesson learned from them is explicit and well-meaning.

Almost every character feels believable and understandable in the film, never having any real antagonist, the film still holds together quite well.

The film switches genre within stories a number of times and depicts each one well enough. My favorite being the story of Edward's time in the military, the fight choreography is wonderful, the actual setting is some sort of Vietnamese talent show is hilarious, and the song sung by the twins matches the mood of the story perfectly. The night-vision gag is also great. This story/scene is probably my favorite in the movie because of the visual splendor and creativity, despite my usual dislike of action films.

The film has a problem with perspective. Not camera perspective, although there never really were any standout shots that captivated me beyond the Vietnam scene, story perspective. There are only two instances of this, but at both times it feels like we should be considering Edward a hero when in reality he is actually being a jerk.

The first instance is with Don Price, who I genuinely believe is a victim of this story. Don Price is a character with very little screen time, however during that time he is gaslit for almost the entirety. He is the first fiance of Edward's wife and is labeled as a jerk by Edward before any interaction shown whatsoever. In the film, Don is shown only to be constantly one-upped by Edward, and disappointed by this. Never does he attack or slander Edward, he is simply upset to always be lesser than him. Don some way or another has seduced Sandra, meaning he must have some redeeming qualities. Not only this, but Sandra implies Don spoke highly of Edward to her. Then, after repeated overt and public displays of affection toward Sandra, who at this time is engaged to Don, he shows up to see Edward in a field of daffodils outside his fiance's home. Don approaches with what I would think to be a justified amount of anger and provokes Edward before beating him to a pulp. Sandra gives back her ring to Don at this point, Edward refusing to fight back as Sandra asks, and the two end up together shortly after. Don is seemingly intended on being the villain here, but how is Don the villain at all? Edward has been repeatedly trying to court his fiance, something his fiance has not been stopping yet stays with him, and now he has a literal field full of flowers for her. I am on team Don here. If someone did that towards my girlfriend, and she did nothing to stop it, I would be extremely upset. Did Don go too far in beating Edward that much? Perhaps, but Don has lived his entire life being outshined by Edward, only to find a beautiful wife, and have Edward outshine him even there! Sure Don called Sandra "his girl", however, this is a normal saying and does not necessarily imply that he, "thinks he owns her" or whatever Edward said to Don. Edward is always positioned as the hero, even when he seems to be completely ruining this guy's life. I think the worst thing Don did in the film was swearing. Boo-freaking-hoo. That is not worth the label of a jerk, and give you any right to embarrass him publicly.

The second moment where Edward is positioned as a hero despite being a villain (this time very seriously) is when he joins Norther Winslow in robbing a bank. This one requires much less explanation. Robbing a bank is not something a hero does, even if it is with some guy you met for a day and had a lasting impact on. Norther literally tells Edward he inspired him to do new things, which includes rob banks. But Edward doesn't just allow this to go on, but participates, and gives Norther more money when they find the bank is broke. If Edward were really a hero, he would have taken the gun that Norther gave him, and shot Norther right then and there. Instead, he helps him rob the bank before letting him go free with some new business advice.

It is important to understand that all of the stories Edward tells seem to have some amount of fiction, be it an extreme amount like with the ringmaster being a werewolf or a small amount like with his time in the military. However, that does not excuse the movie's position that these things added to Edward's righteous life. The problem is not with the reality of these events, but how they are expressed and perceived. There is no lesson to take from getting away with a bank robbery, or from seducing someone's wife.

I enjoyed Big Fish. I don't think it is a perfect movie, but the good parts outweigh the bad. On three separate occasions, this film brought me to the verge of tears, and those almost-tears felt deserved. While the score and cinematography were almost never anything beyond average, the emotional weight of the film was expressed well through good performances across the board, and an unconventional story structure. I recommend this movie to any audience that can appreciate the drama genre, however, it does little to draw in an audience of any other kind.