UNLIMITED STREAMING
WITH PRIME VIDEO
TRY 30-DAY TRIAL
Home > Drama >

Big Eyes

Big Eyes (2014)

December. 25,2014
|
7
|
PG-13
| Drama

In the late 1950s and early '60s, artist Walter Keane achieves unbelievable fame and success with portraits of saucer-eyed waifs. However, no one realizes that his wife, Margaret, is the real painter behind the brush. Although Margaret is horrified to learn that Walter is passing off her work as his own, she is too meek to protest too loudly. It isn't until the Keanes' marriage comes to an end and a lawsuit follows that the truth finally comes to light.

...

Watch Trailer

Cast

Similar titles

Reviews

Pluskylang
2014/12/25

Great Film overall

More
MamaGravity
2014/12/26

good back-story, and good acting

More
Aiden Melton
2014/12/27

The storyline feels a little thin and moth-eaten in parts but this sequel is plenty of fun.

More
Allison Davies
2014/12/28

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

More
merelyaninnuendo
2014/12/29

Big EyesWith a premise so dark and complicated, it gets difficult to pull off such a pitch in a dark tone, instead the makers here decide to take it lightly with a hint of comic tone which unfortunately shatters the gravitas of the character and the structure of the script. It seemed like the creators didn't willingly supervised to tell the story which is clearly visible in each frame as there is zero passion and enthusiasm on screen in any single aspect. The adaptation isn't as smart as the writers think and addition to that it is a bit chalky around the edges, even though it has its few moments that gives hope to the viewers. Tim Burton whose love for cinema is usually visible, is the missing puzzle and the reason why he fails to execute the anticipated vision on screen. On performance objective too, there appears to be a weakness which comes as a shock considering the potential of the cast like Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. The feature is shot beautifully and is immensely pleasing on visual aesthetics but unfortunately all of it fades away quickly. Big Eyes is a narrow and blurred sight that is not aware of the vision and the trajectory that it wishes to follow and is the only reason why it never connects with the viewers.

More
Dominik528
2014/12/30

I remember learning about this upcoming film from The Nostalgia Critic's scathing review of Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. One day, I noticed it was airing on TV and had it recorded to the DVR. Before viewing, I thought it was going to be simply okay - but my expectations were exceeded! It is such a well-made Tim Burton film, especially considering how it's a departure from his usual fantasy stories (albiet some of his own elements are sprinkled here and there, like the hallucination scene). It has a great example on how much it sucked to be a woman in the 1960s (Heck, the very first line in the film say something along these lines) and you really feel for the main character, Margaret Keane - Amy Adams was great as her! I'd never heard of Walter and/or Margaret Keane before this - at least, certainly never seen any of the 'big eyes' paintings - so I found the story to be intriguing and thought-provoking. And I think Lana Del Rey was a good choice for the soundtrack, not just because of the singer's obvious fascination with the era, but displaying the fear and sadness Margaret felt during her life and marriage with Walter.

More
Scott-101
2014/12/31

"Big Eyes" tells the real-life story of painter Margaret Keane and how she was trapped by a marriage in the worst way: She was stripped of her name and artistic identity through her husband's lies. Tim Burton previously made one of the best films about the artistic struggle with "Ed Wood" and he touches upon similar themes here. Like how "Ed Wood" flips the traditional artistic biopic formula on its head, "Big Eyes" is cleverly inverted here: Instead of portraying the joy of art, the film takes on the trappings of a psychological thriller with Amy Adams's constantly on the precipice of losing everything through the unraveling of a single lie.The film is a departure from Tim Burton's usual Gothic style but it has shadings of the characters he's drawn to in both Walter and Amy. They're both outsiders who respond to their distance to the mainstream art world in different ways. In this way, this is a much more adult work than say "Corpse Bride" or "Alice in Wonderland." The film is egregiously mislabelled as a comedy by organizations such as the Golden Globes (and even some of the other IMDb reviews). The closest it comes to comedic is Walter Keane's sense of self-delusion. That characterization, however, is an important plot point, and ignoring that is a sign that perhaps Burton's reputation prevents the film from being taken as seriously as it should.

More
moonspinner55
2015/01/01

A portrait of the real-life Keanes, San Francisco married couple of the late 1950s and '60s: Walter is a braggart and storyteller (i.e., a good liar) who is masterful at promoting his wife Margaret's paintings of saucer-eyed waifs--but when it comes down to turning the spotlight on the actual artist, he seizes an early opportunity to take credit for the work himself, even though he has absolutely no artistic talent. A study of ego, delusion and, that old standby, how success destroys a marriage, each theme taking precedence over the process of artistic creation. Tim Burton directed, and was obviously more interested in Walter's preening self-importance and Hollywood hobnobbing than in Margaret's inspirations (she churns out paintings--off-camera--at a rapid pace). Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams are unconvincing as the Keanes, neither able to overcome Burton's uncomfortable imbalance of moods gleaned from Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski's curiously thin screenplay. As a movie about art, "Big Eyes" is surely a failure, with a timeline presented to us in shorthand. Viewers attracted by the picture's nostalgic trimmings--as a jaunt back in time to a simpler era--might enjoy it, even though the family dynamics are a mess and Waltz's larger-than-life portrayal gets more annoying as the film progresses. *1/2 from ****

More