Will Bloom (Billy Crudup) has two problems. One is that his father, Edward (Albert Finney), is dying back home in Alabama while Will has made a life for himself and his pregnant wife (Marion Cotillard) in France. Will hurries to the old man's bedside, where he comes face to face with another problem: from Will's point of view, Edward has not told a single true story in his life, instead embellishing on the facts until they're unrecognizable.

As Edward's wife Sandra (Jessica Lange) demonstrates loving restraint, Will tries to get some straight answers out of his dad, but Edward's tales are as tall as they've always been. We see Edward's version of events in a series of flashbacks: as a boy, Edward meets a witch (a heavily made-up Helena Bonham Carter) whose glass eye prophesies the manner of Edward's death. This knowledge, far from being distressing, gives Edward the confidence to go through life, knowing that nothing other that what he saw in the vision can kill him. As a young man (Ewan McGregor), Edward realizes his ambitions are too big for his small town and, after rescuing the place from a giant, sets out with his super-sized traveling companion and meets the love of his life (Alison Lohman), only to lose her and have to find her again via a trial out of a fairytale. Other adventures include perilous secret missions for the Army, spontaneous bank robbery and acts of massive reconstruction.

BIG FISH has loads of whimsical charm, with director Tim Burton going for endearing eccentricity rather than anything that is outright grotesque. As the young Edward, McGregor is clearly in on the joke, yet manages to play the man's twinkly idealized former self warmly and straightforwardly, without sending himself up. Finney is jovial and bright, with a great sense of a desire to be liked we see the need, but it's not pathetic. Crudup, in the tough straight man role, gives Will convincing inner life. Lange and Lohman are astoundingly well-matched physically as present and past aspects of Edward's beloved Sandra, as well as giving fine performances, and Danny DeVito is aptly droll as the proprietor of the circus where Edward toils for awhile.

The screenplay by John August, based on Daniel Wallace's novel, is fun throughout and unavoidably heart-tugging at the end, but it never really resonates. Since we never get to see whether or not Edward really listens to Will which would be a crucial element in trying to figure out exactly what Will has found so distressing in his relationship with his father over the years we can't tell if Will has anything like a real grievance, or if he's just having a lasting fit of pique over his dad's personal style. From what we are shown, Will doesn't appear to have lost any sense of self due to his upbringing. Since rapprochement between father and son is at the heart of the film, softballing the cause of conflict gives the whole enterprise a slightly Disney kid's film feel yes, there is death here, but we never feel serious emotional danger.

BIG FISH is a larky, good-natured enterprise, highly enjoyable in its folkloric, episodic approach. It is definitely fun it's just not as deep as it seems intended to be.