My Review of 'Big Eyes'

I didn't think much of the movie Big Eyes when it first came out in theaters. The trailer didn't particularly interest me but the subject matter was a little bit intriguing. Big Eyes is based off of the biography of renowned painter Margaret Keane, played brilliantly by Amy Adams. She was a victim of the patriarchal time that she lived in. Female artists could not thrive on their own merits because they weren't taken seriously. It's still not a great time to be be part of a minority group of any kind, but back in her time it was a terrible time for minorities.

Throughout the majority of her life Keane had been a struggling artist, and to make matters worse she had some heavy hardships early on in her life. She had separated from her first husband, and had to raise a daughter by herself. Again, we have to remember that she lived in an era when female artists weren't even considered artists. I kind of wished Tim Burton would have placed more emphasis on this portion of the movie, but then it would have been a little out of place. This would be better explained in an actual biography or a short TV series.

Keane eventually meets up with a man that would help propel her artwork to fame with his art of salesmanship. They eventually get married and continue their arrangement in selling Keane's art—at the cost of Keane's integrity.

I guess I'll just leave the description at that, because it's nice to have a little mystery when going into this movie. I know I enjoyed watching the movie unravel before my eyes. Of course, you can read what had actually happened to Keane on Wikipedia or something. If you decide to do that, be my guest.

What surprised me was that this was a Tim Burton directed movie. Everyone that's seen a Tim Burton movie already knows the dark and creepy mood he instills into his movies. This movie had no sense of Tim Burton in it. I don't know how this was possible (well, there was a glimpse of it here and there). It's sort of his signature and I hope he isn't veering away from his classic style of directing.

With that said, I still enjoyed the way that he directed the movie. It's got some of the old Tim Burton hiccuping onto the screen much later on in the film but at that point, it felt kind of out of place. The choice of Christopher Waltz playing as Margaret Kean's second husband Walter Keane was interesting. I know he's a great actor and everything, but he was really over the top, especially close to the end of the movie. I don't know if it was his decision to act this way but I have a funny feeling it could have been Tim Burton's direction to act this way. Anyways, it felt kind of distracting and out of place.

It's a nice story that should be told to the public and it generally ended in a very nice way. The climax of the film was kind of predictable and felt a little cheesy, and I need to read up on the true story if this actually happened in real life because that would have been quite interesting.

Burton also touched a bit about how Margaret Keane's work wasn't considered high art because it appealed to the masses rather than the social art elite. That element could have been more detailed, but it would have detracted from the main story. That's another thing they can put into her actual biography or some sort of TV special.

Overall, I would say that the movie was entertaining but kind of fell flat closer to the end of the movie. The concept of the story was great but the execution wasn't quite there for me. I think a few people that are into art politics might enjoy this movie. I will have to give this movie a 6.5 out of 10. It's enjoyable enough to watch if there's nothing else on, as you won't fall asleep during the movie but it wouldn't be my first choice.