Only a few Oscar contenders remain unseen at this point, and the last few weeks have held more and more movies showing off their wares for the first time, with AFI Fest bringing the premieres of "A Most Violent Year" (probably too grown-up to make much impact), "Selma" (a potential front-runner) and "American Sniper" (either another dull Eastwood movie or a potential nominee, depending on who you ask).
Last night, they were joined by "Big Eyes," the long-gestating biopic of artist Margaret Keane (Amy Adams), who painted popular and distinctive pictures of children with oversized eyes, only for her husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) to claim the credit. Reteaming director Tim Burton with "Ed Wood" writers Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the film was unveiled last night at the Los Angeles County Museum Of Art, an appropriate setting for a film revolving around paintings. And the word is… mixed.
There don’t seem to be any official reviews yet — possibly an embargo still in place? — but reactions on the Twittersphere and elsewhere vary from acute disappointment to the belief that it’s a return to form for Burton. Take a look and click through some of the responses below, along with ten new images from the film.
Kris Tapley, In Contention
"The result is a truly strange piece of work. Tonally, it’s rather all over the place. The third act finally commits to the zany elements strewn throughout with Waltz aiming for the fences as Keane serves as his own defense against a slander dispute… it feels like the most un-Burton Burton film to date, really"
Steve Pond, The Wrap
"’Big Eyes’ adds something of a change of pace to [Burton’s] career, though it also contains lots of the things audiences have come to appreciate about the director’s work: It’s got flashes of creepiness and abundant humor, it puts outrageousness side-by-side with emotion, it’s populated by misfits looking for a place in a sometimes hostile world, and like Burton’s 1994 film “Ed Wood” (written, as was “Big Eyes,” by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski) it tells a true story that sometimes seems too weird to have actually happened. Gentler and less macabre than many of Burton’s films, “Big Eyes” played exceptionally well to the audience at LACMA’s Bing Theater"
Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter
"Big Eyes is likely to be viewed as an atypical Burton pic, although one can see why the famously eccentric former animator would be drawn to a story about an animator who drew eccentric-looking people. While the Academy might expect the central character in a Burton movie to have some of the flamboyant style of a Johnny Depp performance, Adams’ character is more of a Doris Day type."
Jen Yamato, Deadline
"Adams gives a nuanced performance as Margaret, a timid single mother in the male-dominated 1950s who allows her showy second husband to co-opt her painfully personal art, becoming increasingly trapped in the lie as their fortunes swell.
Big Eyes is delightful. Tim Burton’s most personal, emotional, and charming movie in years.
— Jack Giroux (@JackGi) November 14, 2014
Big Eyes is definitely a return to Ed Wood territory. Often outrageous but totally human. An all around good film.
— Jack Giroux (@JackGi) November 14, 2014
Waltz and Adams are both great in BIG EYES. Waltz gets some of he biggest laughs of the year – has some hilarious moments.
— Ben Pearson (@benpears) November 14, 2014
Sitting here trying to figure out how to explain why I really didn’t like Big Eyes. Bizarre tone throughout. Over the top.
— Kristopher Tapley (@kristapley) November 14, 2014
At LACMA’s world premiere screening of ‘Big Eyes’ with Tim Burton, Amy Adams, and Christoph Waltz. The film is all kinds of terrific.
— Joseph McCabe (@JMaCabre) November 14, 2014
