Year: 2014
Director: Tim Burton
Screenplay: Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Jon Polito, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman, Terence Stamp
Running Time: 106 minutes
Genre: Drama, comedy, biography
In 1958 aspiring artist Margaret Ulrich (Adams) leaves her husband and travels with her young daughter to San Francisco, where she meets unsuccessful but charismatic painter Walter Keane (Waltz), and they soon get married. While Walter paints nondescript landscapes, Margaret specialises in pictures of waif-like children with oversized eyes. As Walter continues to have no success with his own works, he begins to pass off Margaret's work as his own (she signs her paintings simply as "Keane"). The paintings become extremely successful, and Walter becomes something of a celebrity, but Margaret is increasingly dissatisfied at doing all of the work and getting none of the credit.
You may not be familiar with Margaret and Walter Keane and the slightly creepy paintings of sad children with huge eyes (which look now for all the world like the sinister Black Eyed Kids of modern urban legend). However in the 1960s Walter Keane was a big celebrity, and the paintings were hugely popular. It turned out of course that the paintings were all the work of his wife, Margaret. It's a strange and interesting story, and this is an interesting film. Director Tim Burton and screenwriters Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski had previously explored the odd fringes of popular culture with Ed Wood (1994), and while this shares the often humorous take and appreciation of kitsch, Big Eyes is not as distinctive or impressive. In fact it is a surprisingly conventional film from Tim Burton who made his name with bizarre, grotesque and slightly surreal films, the main stylistic element here is that everything seems overly bright and colourful. Amy Adams gives a muted, nuanced performance as Margaret Keane, but Christoph Waltz goes completely over the top as the charismatic conman Walter Keane, who comes across as something between a gameshow host and a sleazy used car salesman, he constantly talks about his travels throughout France, and it turns out that he spent all of a week there, and when it come to art he has far more confidence than talent. Together Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz seem to be making two completely different films. Amy Adams, a drama about a woman trying to find her voice, and Christoph Waltz, a broad comedy about a lovable rogue. The film is interesting and always entertaining, but it is quite conventional. It's certainly worth your time, but probably won't linger very long after the end credits have rolled.
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