MovieReview: "Big Fish"; "Monster"; "House of Sand and Fog"

title: "Big Fish"

starring: Ewan McGregor, Albert Finney, Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Allison Lohman, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny Devito, Steve Buscemi

genre: fantasy drama

If the sentimental qurikiness of "Big Fish" doesn't get you, than something else will, in Tim Burton's newest tale of tales and story of stories. Billy Crudup plays Will Bloom, a father-to-be whose own father (Finney) is on his deathbed. Because Bloom never got to know his father, he makes the trek for one last visit, to learn who his father really is. The senior Bloom spins tales and wonders of his early life, which infuriates Will, because his stories only dance around the true nature of his father. (Ewan McGregor plays young Ed Bloom, charismatically and collectively - he's the equal of a Southern salesman, who saunters off and on the screen with authoritative charm.) The tales spun of Bloom's life involves everything from an encounter with a clairvoyant witch (Carter), to a soul-searching journey for the love of his life (Lohman). Each story is manipulatively marketable, but you start to believe with Tim Burton's oddball direction, and each actor's gasping performance. The only down to "Big Fish" is the big picture: it's wrung with a commercialized machination, one which has you sucked in if you want to enjoy it. There's another downer too: Danny Devito's rear, which is a plump sugary clump not unlike the movie itself. A-

Quick Flicks:

"Monster": Charlize Theron gives a Oscar-worthy performance as Eileen Wuornos, a roadside serial killer who was sentenced to death in 2002. For the role, Theron bulks up and carves herself into Wuornos, a transformation perhaps unlike anything seen before. And for the most part, she is Wuornos, unsettling, stirring and gripping the silver screen with unapologetically disturbing madness. Chrsitina Ricci costars as Selby, Wuornos' lover and fragile friend. Directed by Patty Jenkins, "Monster" is dressed with the darkest ambitions, and dwells in your psyche like an unflinching picture. A

"House of Sand and Fog": Jennifer Connoly and Ben Kingsley star as competiting losers, vying for a piece of real estate in which Connoly grew up in, but which Kingsley rightfully bought. It's not as touching, endearing, and poetic as Andre Dubus III's novel, but for a depressing tale about multiple suicide attempts and ok performances, it'll do. B-

Coming up:

"The Butterfly Effect"

"Torque"

"Along Came Polly"

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