Lacey and I saw the new Tim Burton movie yesterday. I have seen several reviews of this movie, from Josiah saying it would have been his favorite movie of last year, to Steven Greydanus saying it was enjoyable and decent (no pun intended), but flawed. I have to say, crazily enough, that I mostly agree with Ebert's review of it, and Mr. Greydanus's. The movie, of course, is great-looking. Tim Burton is a great director, and he uses the camera, the scenery, the special f/x, etc. so to his advantage, that it is wondrous to behold. The acting is also very good. I love Ewan McGregor, and the supporting cast is excellent. As my roommate said, it just ticks me off even more that George Lucas didn't USE Ewan's talent...it kinda just went to waste. I thought the soundtrack was very good. I thought the images, metaphors, etc. were excellent. All that being said, the "hero" of the story is, as Ebert put it, still a blowhard. Sure, all of his stories have some element of truth to them, and the end of the movie is fairly moving, and I enjoyed all of it in between. But the main character remains a man who didn't have time for his family, was busy traveling, telling stories, and "finding his destiny" (I guess having a family isn't a good enough destiny), and estranged his only son, so much so that they didn't speak for three years. This is not the kind of man I can easily sympathize with. That is how he goes to the grave, and his son ends up relenting, and taking up his mantle of crazy stories. That is not the sort of man I want to emulate or my children to emulate. And I see these as problems. Burton wants you to sympathize with his lead. He (apparently) wants you to know that it is a pretty good way to go through life. And I disagree.
Now, it may sound like I'm being too hard on the movie. That is not my intention. I would still recommend it, and I really liked it. I liked that there was a movie made, basically, about storytelling. I really enjoyed the movie overall. I just think, ironically enough, that the storytelling itself lacked in more ways than one.
I don't think Burton wants you to sympathize with the father, in fact, not at all. I think the movie is about the son, learning to overcome the fact that his father is an imperfect asshole, and realize that his dad still loved him and he should still love his Dad.
Posted by: JosiahQ at January 14, 2004 02:35 PMHe didn't want you to sympathize with the father, the main character? Despite the fact that all the son finds out in the end is that his dad a)"helped people" b)didn't lie as much as he thought c)told wonderful stories d)lived "great" adventures, etc? Why would all of the people at the end come together if not to garner sympathy for the lead character???? I agree, yours is a theme of the movie, but more of a sub-theme. I guess I just saw it as a way for Burton to excuse the fact that the main character was a horrible father and a faithful but absent husband.
Posted by: UJ at January 14, 2004 02:45 PMoh, i also forgot e)the son ends up repeating the father's methods of child-rearing, er, storytelling. if we're not supposed to sympathize with this brand of lying, er, storytelling, and the character that does it, why is it repeated? and repeated (his grandson catches onto it as well)? i submit that the last half hour of the movie is told for no other reason than to show that the father WASN'T such an asshole. i think the movie, and you, have the belief that it was all the son's fault. he should have just rolled with the punches, let his dad take over every situation, lie, leave his family for months at a time, etc. since he wasn't such a bad guy---his stories had some truth to them! after all, his dad's the "hero" of the story and the movie. yikes. if that's what the movie is about, or if what you say the movie is about is the case, it still has the problem that the lead character is (in your own words) an asshole. that is a problem, and one that CAN be overcome in movies (hate the sin, love the sinner). but i don't think this one does a good enough job. i'm not saying i could do it better, i just thought it was a shortcoming of the movie. that's all.
Posted by: UJ at January 14, 2004 03:48 PM