Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) became a pop art phenomenon in the ‘60s with her paintings of waif children with oversized eyes. This was due mostly to the marketing ideas of her husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) an energetic, somewhat overbearing failed painter.
Walter also takes credit for the paintings, which are simply marked “Keane.” Convinced that her work is more popular with a man’s name on them, rather than her own, Margaret allows this to continue until living a lie becomes too much for her to bear.
We say, “Big Eyes is probably the most mainstream movie made by Tim Burton.”
TAYLOR: Mr. Burton, known for being the weirdo making weird movies (Batman, Beetlejuice) is back, this time tackling a true tale for a more mainstream audience. Big Eyes, while displaying high levels of kitsch, both due to the subject matter and the fact that it’s set in San Francisco’s art world in the late ‘50s, is surprisingly plain for a Burton film. So while there are pastel colours everywhere and women with big hair, production design is played down, story is played up. Adams and Waltz are kind of an odd couple, but I find Waltz quite odd in every film he’s performed in. Waltz is like a street mime without the makeup, everything is exaggerated. It works because Walter Keane is a man you’re supposed to recognize as being full of malarkey.
HOWE: I like Waltz as an actor, so what if he is a little flamboyant and over the top? Everything I have seen him in, be it from Col. Hans Landa in Inglorious Basterds to playing a father in Carnage, who is more involved in his work rather than his family, he always gives a solid performance. In Big Eyes it is no different. As for Mr. Burton making a more normal movie as you put it, it’s because he is a Keane fan. He has a small collection of the paintings himself, but for the life of me I don’t know why. They are pretty scary and hideous if you ask me.
TAYLOR: The film is all right, but I found myself getting bored at about the three quarter mark. Adams’ Margaret Keane walks around in a doe-eyed daze for much of the film, which, while appropriate for her character, doesn’t make for an interesting person. Mrs. Keane becomes quite like Rapunzel, shut into her attic, painting away like a slave. It isn’t until she finally decides to stand up to Mr. Keane that things get interesting.
HOWE: Ah, you mean the court case. This was the most enjoyable part of the movie for myself. Again Adam’s character doesn’t really do that much and it is Waltz that steals the show once more, just like the rest of the film.
– Howe gives Big Eyes 2.5 tubes of paint out of 5.
– Taylor gives it 3 stress-related hallucinations out of 5.
– Brian Taylor and Peter Howe are film reviewers based in Vernon, B.C.
