Why BIG EYES Is Tim Burton's Most Important Film
Tim Burton's filmography is full of strange, off-kilter movies, and embracing that sense of zaniness and weirdness is what has made him a successful director. But by relying too much on style over substance, and by continuing a creative partnership with Johnny Depp that's spanned decades, Burton fell into a rut and nearly devolved into self-parody in recent years. After a string of live-action films that range from misfires to creatively bankrupt catastrophes, Burton's new film Big Eyes shows that not only is the director still capable of telling a story with a relatable human at the center, but he actually excels at it. Swapping a bug-eyed Depp for an expressive Amy Adams, Burton dials back his trademark quirkiness and delivers his most affecting film since Big Fish.
Adams plays Margaret, a single mom with a young daughter to support. In 1958 San Francisco, this isn't exactly a socially acceptable situation ("The man is the head of the household," a priest tells Margaret, "so maybe you should trust his judgment"), and Margaret, a painter who specializes in unique portraits of children with deep, striking, immense eyes, quickly begins a whirlwind romance with a local artist named Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz). Keane is a charming rogue, and while there's definitely a mutual attraction, their marriage seems to be built more on mutual benefit than true love.
Taking on the role of Walter isn't exactly a tall order for Waltz, who essentially plays the same kind of delightfully charming guy you love to hate that we've seen him play a handful of times already. That description may be a bit too dismissive of some of his better moments here, though, most of which involve his pathetic descent into denial and the sad desperation that lurks under the surface due to the fact that he's not a real artist. He gets most of the film's laughs, especially in a memorable courtroom sequence that immediately enters the conversation when it comes to the most entertaining courtroom scenes ever committed to film. His bombastic personality is great when it comes to marketing, but he can't escape the fact that he's a talentless hack who has to steal his wife's work to feel accomplished.
With Big Eyes, Burton has once again made a film about real characters, not just caricatures. While collaborating with Depp proved fruitful in the early days of both of their careers, films like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Dark Shadows revealed that their partnership turned into little more than an excuse for Depp to wear bizarre hats and make ridiculous faces. While many may argue that Edward Scissorhands, Beetlejuice, or Batman is the most important movie of Burton's career, I'd say that honor belongs to Big Eyes because it proves he's still capable of doing something different.
Hollywood often rewards artists who carve out a niche and repeat their own formulas again and again, but it's nice to see Burton isn't content with sitting back and making the same kind movie for the rest of his life. He could have easily chosen to stick to his usual aesthetic and stay in his comfort zone, only choosing to direct films that fit into his established visual style. But thankfully he seemed to sense he was falling into a rut, and having that self-awareness and actually doing something about it is a huge step forward for an artist. By now we know he could probably direct something like Sweeney Todd in his sleep; thanks to Big Eyes, there's a refreshing sense of unpredictability to him, and I can't wait to see if he capitalizes on that over the next few years and continues to expand his career into interesting directions.