Big Eyes – Movie Review
Big Eyes
The Weinstein Company
Tim Burton
Big Eyes can be summarized in 45 minutes and the rest is exasperatingly sluggish.
Being a big, big fan of Tim Burton and after watching trailers of his latest directing job, I was very eager to see the biopic “Big Eyes”. And since it is not opening here in Germany for some time, I took the time to go to the movies during my New York vacation during the December holidays.
Long story short: wannabe painter, but really just a shameless plagiarist, Walter Keane convinces Margaret Ulbrich to marry him and then to let him sell her work under his name all over the world. And well, I was really disappointed by the rhythm of the film. Unlike most of Burton’s movies, Big Eyes tells the story really slowly. Even now that I watch an interview with the director, I see him talk and communicate pretty quickly, while the picture’s 106 minutes running time feel like decades. The moments of action can be summarized in 45 minutes and the rest is exasperatingly sluggish.
Now that some two weeks have passed since I watched it, I’ve started to idealize “Big Eyes” and remember a beautifully complicated story, full of strong emotions and inner struggles; around some gorgeous works of art and a genius woman just a bit ahead of her time.
A Golden Globe for the leading lady.
Amy Adams totally deserved her Golden Globe for this absolutely moving performance that – if you’re anything like me – pulls you in to share her quiet desperation. As for the rest of the main cast: Christoph Waltz and his Walter Keane disgusted me throughout the movie, his acting not matching the temper of the film. Krysten Ritter’s appearances were far too few for my taste and the character of Margaret’s daughter Jane, was better portrayed by Delaney Raye – an enigmatic kid – than by Madeleine Arthur, whose teenage version of the girl was simply boring.
I missed Burton’s voice and style and I really had to concentrate to feel the real story: the heartbreaking struggle of an artistic spirit caged in a lie. I recommend to go see “Big Eyes” if you have really nothing else to do, but it’s probably better to wait for it to come out on DVD and watch it on a rainy day, when you wouldn’t do anything anyway.