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BIG FISH Well, here's one for you whiny little bitches who think I just don't like anything. "Big Fish," while lacking here and there, ends up being a movie that will actually last as a worthy tale told on the screen.

Edward Bloom (Albert Finney) is a dying man who has one last wish - that his son (Billy Crudup) will understand him one day. While his numerous and repetitive tall tales have embarassed his son for years on end, Edward believes that the only way to pass down any legacy is to stand by his stories.

It is through these different visited tales (told by different people close to Edward and seen through the eyes of his younger self, played by Ewan MacGregor) that we grow familiar with his life story, a fantasy of unreasonable proportions that delves into the hero, the romantic, and the adventurer that is Edward Bloom. By the end, not only is there reason to see how some of the memories Edward carries with him are rightfully exagerrated, there is reason to see why they should not be passed down any other way.

Technicalities like Edward's voice going from the light, boyish ring of Ewan MacGregor to the deeper-than-a-tomb bellow of Albert Finney within the same lifetime are all that keep the meaningful bridge between fantasy and reality slighlty inaccessible.

Luckily, each member of this wonderful ensemble (Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Alison Lohman, Danny DeVito) grasps the concept of which kind of acting to do (melodramatic or naturalistic), which keeps a proper balance that could have easily been weighed wrong in the hands of the wrong director.

All in all, this film is truthfully worth seeing. While it may be slightly sappy here and there, the end product is a solid piece of art that will help make Tim Burton remembered for his artistic vision as opposed to Hollywood garbage like "Planet of the Apes." (four bongs)

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