‘Big Fish’ makes fantastic splash, not wave

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In theaters

BIG FISH, directed by Tim Burton, written by John August, 110 minutes, rated PG-13.

The new Tim Burton movie, “Big Fish,” tells the tall tale of Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), a dying salesman whose charmed life, recounted from his deathbed, proves a colorful confection of bigger-than-life stories, some legitimately lived, others overtly embellished, most drifting somewhere in between.

The movie, Burton’s 10th, was adapted by John August from Daniel Wallace’s novel, and it plays to Burton’s strengths as an auteur of fantasy colliding with reality. Just as in the recent “Cold Mountain,” the film is a contemporary version of “The Odyssey,” albeit this time out, the new version is a bit more fantastic in the telling.

Its opening moments, for instance, are a lark of human propulsion. They find Edward reminiscing about his own spectacular birth, which found him rocketing from his mother’s womb, literally shooting from her loins and hurtling down a hospital corridor on his back, where his gathering momentum was stubbed by a nurse.

Later, itching to get out of the small pond of his Alabama backwater and experience the bigger riches of the world, Edward (played in his youth by Ewan McGregor) is greeted by new friends and adventures – the likes of which make for grand storytelling.

There’s Karl, the misunderstood giant who doesn’t quite fit into the world; a shrewish witch (Helena Bonham Carter) whose glass eye reveals to Edward his own death; his future wife, Sandra (Alison Lohman and Jessica Lange), whom Edward meets while shoveling a year’s worth of manure at the circus; and the conjoined twins he saves after parachuting into China during World War II.

In spite of these oddball scenes – and the countless others that weave around them – “Big Fish” doesn’t rise to the quirky greatness of Burton’s best films, “Edward Scissorhands,” “Ed Wood” and “Beatlejuice.” It’s more measured, less daring, never as dark, eschewing any trace of an edge in favor of embracing a sunny, whimsical charm.

If this is the director at his most grown-up, then it’s also Burton at his most obvious, with the core of his film centered around Edward’s shaky relationship with his son, Will (Billy Crudup), a bitter journalist with no humor or imagination who resents his scene-stealing father for creating a life that’s essentially a lie.

For most, Edward’s tales are harmless fun. But for Will, who resents his father’s grandstanding, they’ve created a tug of war between them that centers on the necessity of telling the truth versus the necessity of telling stories. Predictably, Burton favors the latter, with his movie branching off in a dozen different directions to make his point.

“Big Fish” is perhaps best enjoyed in its parts rather than in its whole; it might be too episodic for its own good. Still, it’s consistently watchable, with fine performances from Finney, Lane and McGregor, lush cinematography from Philippe Rousselot, and a score from Burton’s longtime collaborator, Danny Elfman, that’s every bit as mystical as Dennis Gassner’s production design.

Grade: B

On video and DVD

SWIMMING POOL, directed by Francois Ozon, written by Ozon and Emmanuele Bernheim, 102 minutes, rated R.

In the kinky suspense thriller “Swimming Pool,” director Francois Ozon follows his 2002 camp musical, “8 Women,” with a movie whose opening is just comically bitter enough to brighten the day.

The movie stars Charlotte Rampling as Sarah Morton, an impossibly sullen British mystery author of a certain age who’s had it with life in London and who is badly in need of a change.

Her publisher John (Charles Dance) suggests that she spend time at his house in the south of France, which Sarah agrees to do, if only because it will get her out of the city, away from her ailing father and allow her a place to herself.

One of the movie’s great pleasures is in watching Sarah loosen up and unwind after she arrives at the house. Initially an unlikable shrew armed with a stinging arsenal of barbs, she succumbs to the fresher air and begins to live a happier, cleaner life.

That sublime spell is shattered with the unexpected appearance of John’s bombshell teenage daughter, Julie (Ludivine Sagnier), a hot-to-trot, free-living interloper from France who, on the surface, seems to be Sarah’s polar opposite.

She’s young and beautiful, sporting the sort of bod that time and gravity have yet to weigh down. A casual nudist with the sort of haughty, rich-girl air that makes Paris Hilton look like a new-money amateur, Julie is a boozy yet likable brat with a noisy sex life that shakes up Sarah’s own life, not to mention the movie itself.

What this coupling builds to is two-fold: a new literary direction for Sarah, with the amusing Julie serving as her sluttish muse, and a mystery straight out of one of Sarah’s old books. Exactly what takes place during one especially drug-induced evening won’t be revealed here, but it involves a jealous Julie, Sarah’s favorite waiter, a poolside romp-and someone’s body eventually being buried in the backyard.

With a surprise-twist ending that’s wide open for debate, “Swimming Pool” is racy and daring, with Ozon successfully tweaking familiar mystery conventions and making them his own. As usual, Rampling is excellent, with her stiff upper lip coming away a bit rouged in the end, and Sagnier proves her perfect foil.

For some, the film’s ending will kill it – Ozon wants to grab us, and he goes out of his way to do so. Still, for others, the risk the director takes will be a blast.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 5:30 p.m. Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived at RottenTomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Alex & Emma ? D+

Anger Management ? C-

Anything Else ? B+

Bad Boys II ? C-

Bend it Like Beckham ? A-

Bruce Almighty ? B+

Down with Love ? C+

Freaky Friday ? A-

Holes ? B+

Hollywood Homicide ? D-

How to Deal ? C-

The In-Laws ? C

The Italian Job ? A-

Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers ? A-

Man on the Train ? A-

The Matrix Reloaded ? A-

Nowhere in Africa ? A

Out of Time ? B

The Order ? D

Pirates of the Caribbean ? A-

Real Women Have Curves ? A-

Seabiscuit ? C

Shanghai Knights ? B

S.W.A.T. ? B-

28 Days Later ? B+

Underworld ? D

View from the Top ? C+