I was not sure the movie would be that good. In fact, I found it very good. The life of the main character was, in some ways, fascinating. The acting of all the key characters is excellent, particularly Amy Adams'. There are also some funny moments and the film sustains the viewer's interest to the end, in my opinion. Overall, a very good film in my view.
Although on the surface, this is a bio-pic of an artist, the subject matter is the recently recognised crime of psychological abuse. The female lead is a woman of weak-mind, and a fearful dependent nature, who, in an insecure situation latches on to a man, who appears charming, and as she says "a good provider", but who is actually the very lowest of the low, second hand-car-salesman type who lives by lies, manipulation, and deceit. and quickly takes over this woman's entire life, including her artistry.
There are times in the film where I felt totally exasperated with the woman, as she is so weak and pathetic, and I could feel like reaching into the screen and shouting at her "for gods sake get a spine, and stand up for yourself. Thankfully it all turns out well in the end, but is a bit of an emotional roller-coaster ride to get there.
It was a worthwhile film, and gives an insight into a puzzling, and distasteful phenomenon.
Directed by Tim Burton, it's a US drama about how Margaret Keane (played by Amy Adams) was so dominated by her husband Walter (played by Christoph Waltz) that she allowed him to take credit for her hugely successful paintings featuring children with, guess what, big eyes. The truth (?) comes out in a bitter court case.
I don't like twee paintings of big-eyed waifs and I don't rate Amy Adams as an actress. I was unconvinced by her performance alongside Clint Eastwood in 'Trouble with the Curve' and also in 'Man of Steel' and although her performance here is much stronger, I really don't see how it was worth a Golden Globe for Best Actress nor a BAFTA nomination.
Christoph Waltz played his role as a slimy, over-the-top baddy and his courtroom performance as a buffoon. Even Terence Stamp (who has a small part) was over the top. Both are excellent actors, so I put that down to the direction.
It's a sloppy, soppy, over-American tale of male domination and fraud on a nice but weak-willed woman, who does eventually show some backbone and will not put up with further lying. Quite how true to life it is we'll perhaps never know, but it didn't come across as realistic to me. But hey, it's a movie drama...
Renting this film was my wife's choice, so I blame her. 2/5 stars - I didn't like it very much. Neither of us did.
Big Eyes is Tim Burton’s second biopic since 1994’s Ed Wood. In that previous film, Burton attempts to find the method to the madness of artistic outsiders. He succeeded at capturing the wonders and amazement of a cheap filmmaker with big dreams - an easy enough character for Burton to relate with. It’s a bit perplexing trying to figure out what he saw in the tale of Margaret Keene’s painting career. Her story certainly has an interesting focus on plagiarism and artistic integrity, but it still seems like an odd choice of a film for Tim Burton despite his interest in the subject matter of art.
Curiously missing from the film is Burton’s trademark style of surreal whimsy in his photography and direction. He pulls back on that for this picture most likely to keep the story more grounded, but perhaps too much. For a story that takes place in the 1960’s, his dressing is greatly restrained. There is one brief moment of surrealism in which the artist in question starts viewing others with the large eyes of her paintings; so brief that if you blink you’ll miss it. Why even bother including such surrealism when it equates to so little? Burton mostly leaves it up to the actors to carry this plot which I can’t blame him for since Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are exceptional talents.
Amy Adams plays the plucky and doubtful Margaret Keene - a woman so shy and unsure she thinks cappuccino is slang for marijuana. She wants to be a great artist, but squanders her talent on painting baby crib designs in a factory and dollar-sketches on the street. But her paintings of big-eyed children soon attracts the eye of the eccentric street artist Walter, enthusiastically played by Waltz. Inspired by her talent, he quickly makes his move by marrying Margaret and going into business with her as a painting duo. Walter’s city backgrounds and Margaret’s big-eyed portraits soon become noted in small galleries, but Margaret’s paintings sell far more than Walter’s. Jealous of the fame and attention she’d receive, Walter claims her work as his own. She’s naturally disgusted when she first hears of this, but the money and lies are already coiled around her life. She simply watches on with unease as her husband makes it on television while she paints “his” work in the shadows.
Adams and Waltz do the best with what they’re offered in a story that plays just a tad too straight. I couldn’t take my eyes off Waltz the way he plays a cackling jackal of a con artist, even if there wasn’t much to his character. When being interviewed in public, he’s a smiling devil that never shuts down. When he’s around his wife, he’s a nervous wreck and psychopath trying to conceal his dirty secret. As the lie drives Walter to insanity, it drives Margaret to desperation. She becomes flustered and conflicted with how she appears to her daughter as the painter without a credit. Adams does a much better job with playing such a complex role as opposed to Waltz’ one-note villain. You feel for her depression in silence while her husband’s evil nature feels too base to identify with as a layered antagonist. His snide huckster of a character feels more like a side character from Pee Wee’s Big Adventure.
The story of Margaret Keene was originally going to be directed by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski with Reese Witherspoon and Ryan Reynolds in the lead roles. Tim Burton was signed on to take over in 2013 and it shows how this wasn’t quite his project to start with. He makes small attempts at injecting some entertainment into the true tale, but mostly just plays it straight to the point where it annoys. Thankfully, most of Burton’s personal perspective of art and it’s popularity is conveyed through the picture, uneven as it may be. And I can’t fault Adams and Waltz for their performances - simple roles though they may be. Big Eyes falls short of its major interest level with Tim Burton struggling to find its tone, but has a few strokes of brilliance worthy of a mild recommendation.