Big Eyes

Why can't I be a major part of Hollywood? If I had the power to do so, I would just walk around Los Angeles looking for replicas of my hot ex girlfriend and then I'd cast her in my latest movie before making her mine. This is exactly what Tim Burton does! For years he was with the crazy but beautiful Lisa Marie but he then got bored with her and moved on to the crazy but beautiful Helena Bonham Carter. They just recently split however and I am 100% certain it's because after years of searching he finally found his Lisa Marie look-a-like in Krysten Ritter (Breaking Bad). And it's just a matter of time before news reports surface of them being an item. I can't blame the man though because every five years or so I'd find a younger version of Lisa Bonet and post pics of us together on Lenny Kravitz's Insagram making the duck face!

Outside of his obsession with goth girls, Burton just so happens to be a decent director when he's feeling inspired and thankfully it appears as though he was when he came across the story Margaret Keane. I am sure that everyone has at some point seen her work as it is still everywhere you look. She was famous for her oil paintings of little girls with over sized eyes that took the world by storm in the late 50's and on through the 60's. But she hasn't always received credit for her work, for nearly the entire time her work was the talk of the art community, her husband Walter Keane was the one taking credit it.

How does something like this happen you ask? The 50's in this country were a different time; men still controlled everything and women weren't expected to do anything without the approval of their husbands. They certainly weren't taken seriously in the work environment and things weren't any different in the art community. It also didn't help that Margaret wasn't very good at selling herself or her art, so the talentless Walter pressured her into allowing him to take credit for her work as he built their empire.

Christoph Waltz does far too good a job of playing the sleazy, conniving, but charming Walter Keane. He does an excellent job of selling and marketing Margaret's work but he becomes obsessed with the fame as it's the life he's always wanted. Meanwhile Amy Adams is her usual solid self as she plays a role that we are not too used to seeing from her lately. She is the scared and timid Margaret who simply wants to create the work that she is so inspired to make on a daily basis while at the same time providing for her daughter who is the subject of most of her paintings. Can I just marry Adams already and get it over with? She is beautiful and mesmerizing on screen which says something as she is not your typical Hollywood starlet.

As far as Burton movies go, I would call this Burton lite. He sneaks some of his weirdness in when you see Margaret getting inspired but for the most part he shoots it straight. The film's opening scene looks as if he used the set from Edward Scissorhands and most of the production design and cinematography is reminiscent of that movie as well. I'd expect an Oscar nomination for both from this movie.

Big Eyes is tough to watch at times because you just want to punch Walter every time he's on screen but Burton mixes in some of his weird comedy from time to time to help balance it out. I rate this movie as FRESH and suggest that you check it out.