Yes, No, Maybe So: Big Eyes
Friday, September 19, 2014 at 10:00PM 
abstew here. Well, it must be Oscar-movie season because no sooner did we receive a teaser trailer and release date for A Most Violent Year, but mere hours later, the first trailer for the Tim Burton-directed Oscar hopeful Big Eyes popped up as well. Big Eyes is the biopic of kitschy painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) and her husband Walter (two-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz), who falsely claimed to be the paintings' creator. The screenplay from Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski reunites them with Burton (who actually collects Keane paintings) for the first time since the Oscar-winning Ed Wood 20 years ago. But, I know y'all really just wanna know, does the film have what it takes for the quintuple Oscar-less Amy Adams to finally be crowned the winner? Let's examine with the trademarked Yes, No, Maybe So...
Yes
- After a recent string of against type roles (sexy con artist, angry hand job-giving manipulator...) it's kinda refreshing to have the old naïve, innocent Amy Adams back reminding us why we fell in love with her in the first place.
- Christoph Waltz and Amy Adams in a film together isn't necessarily a combo I would've picked, but now that I see it, I kinda like it. She's so warm and sweet and he's so bombastic and abrasive that they seem to play off each other well. I can also totally buy her getting annoyed as she begins to realize what an a-hole he is.
- "Good God - It's a Movement!" I welcome the addition of Jason Schwartzman and his deadpan delivery to any film.
- The rest of the supporting cast is pretty great as well: Danny Huston, Terence Stamp, and it's nice to see TV's Don't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 star Krysten Ritter again (filling the required Tim Burton-esque role of pale skin, dark-haired beauty).
- The only other time Tim Burton tackled a real-life story we got (arguably) his best film, Ed Wood. If this movie is even close to the quality of that one, we're certainly in for a treat.
- My choice for Hit Me With Your Best Shot (...oh, sorry wrong series):
No
- So, this trailer certainly does cram a whole lot of story in, huh? Covering almost every major beat of the film...and minor details (Did we really need to know she was in San Francisco?) And why does every biopic feel the need to tackle decades of a person's life? Couldn't we just choose a certain time frame and focus the story more?
- Christoph Waltz, why you always gotta be so shady?
- That opening part of her talking to the dog seems unnecessarily silly and unfunny. I hope it's not an indicator of the entire tone of the film.
- Those Keane paintings really creep me out...
Maybe So
- Wait, is that...a Southern accent Adams is trying on? No, I'm honestly asking because I'm not entirely sure. I know some people gave her grief last year about her attempt at a British accent in American Hustle (which I never entirely understood since she's not actually supposed to be British), I just hope the accent work here isn't distracting since Margaret Keane was from Tennessee but spent most of her adult life in California and Hawaii.
- It seemed like with Eyesore in Wonderland and Dark Shadows that people were beginning to grow weary of Burton's signature style, so perhaps this aesthetic change is good. But, talk about throwing the baby out with the bath water, can't we get a little more Burton quirk than those shots of people with big eyes? The film's look is so generic. If I didn't know Burton was the director, I never would've guessed it. Why hire a certain director known for a certain style and then completely abandon it?
- For a film people are resting their Oscar-wishes on for Adams' win, it doesn't seem, well, dynamic enough. (Although lord knows Oscars have been won with less.) Christoph Waltz seems to have the much showier role. Will Adams be able to stand out? And with another "over-due" red-head making her way to the Best Actress party with a baity role, is Adams just gonna join Deborah Kerr, Thelma Ritter, and Glenn Close as a six time loser?
I'm a Maybe So, not entirely sold but still intrigued by the film. But in all actuality a Yes because of Oscar chances and Amy Adams...you know you want to share your thoughts as well. Is Amy getting that Best Actress Oscar for Big Eyes?
Reader Comments (29)
I don't understand why people don't get Adams and her accent in "American Hustle". She's clearly only pretending to be British for some people in order to make the con work. I thought she was fantastic. Definitely see her being nominated for this but unsure about a win. Love the delivery of "you don't even know what the truth is" at the end.
I think it looks pretty lame (and I was hoping it would be good). The generic music (which may just be for the trailer), the unfunny jokes, the dated look of the film, the rather cliched characters - no wonder Harvey skipped the festival circuit.
Not only does Adams's accent sound off, but why is Christoph speaking with his typical Austrian accent? Walter Keane was from Middle America.
I've always preferred Adams' talent for histrionic-less performances, and if that means she's not "dynamic" enough to win an Oscar, so be it. Her subtleties have always wowed me.
Also not sure what you're referring to, abstew, but this film doesn't cover her entire life. Just that few years of their marriage.
I think there's zero chance Adams misses a nomination for this, even if she doesn't win. With Harvey behind her, all bets against her are off. End of story.
i wish i could concentrate on the trailer but i'm too distracted wondering how many of those creepy paintings tim burton has in his home
I don't really care for amy 'layered' adams.
Your 'refreshing to have the old innocent & naïve' Amy Adams back is right on. I bet she'll kill it in this.
With that said, I'm not one to see a film due to performances alone (no matter how praised they end up being) and I'm not really looking forward to this because:
1. Its a Biopic
2. Its about a painter
3. It looks unexciting (It's a Biopic)
4. It looks boring (It's a biopic)
5. The character/story beats look awfully predictable (It's a biopic)
6. The central conflict is sorta dumb. Just tell/paint in front of people.
In other words, I guess I'm just not the target audience, but who is really? Awards watchers?
I appreciate the change of style for Burton, a lot, but this looks pretty dull to me. Adams' character is already boring me.
I imagine I will have to watch this at some point, but I have a lot of reasons not too. The paintings freak me out (too manipulative and clown like), the characters seem very one dimensional and the story seems to have a lot of holes. It may be based on true life, but I would rather know why she started painting those blood sucking paintings in the first place than how she married a jerk who falsely represented himself (and I don't buy that she didn't know what was happening and wasn't complicit all the way to the bank). I'd love to know what Stamp and Huston are there for. I don't know anything about this artist or her story (and I imagine I am in the majority). If you are going to push a bio pic of an unknown quantity, you should not expect the viewer to fill in blanks and this trailer was full of holes. What I got was: Unhappy woman moves to CA, meets smooth talker, they defraud the public, get rich and then she decides she wants a bigger cut and they end up in court.
The strength of Ed Wood was that Landau was mesmerizing as Lugosi. People went silent in the theater when he was on screen. Depp was fascinating and SJP was hopelessly clueless. None of these characters hold that kind of promise They're (as presented here) just kind of pathetic and unpleasant. Waltz and Adams no doubt give it their all and fill the characters out as best they can, but I just don't care based on what I saw here.
Since we are talking about accents, I feel even some good actors/actresses do not nail the accents. Jennifer Lawrence's accent in American Hustle was off. Pike's American English sounds shaky. Chastain's accent in Miss Julie was the worst. Just horrendous. What's up with actors and the accents?!?
I'm generally happy to go wherever Amy Adams cares to take me and she seems perfectly lovely, albeit in a limited way, in this trailer.
But the film otherwise looks suffocatingly simplistic.
Oh dear god. If Adams get nominated for this, its gonna be the joke of the year award
Where will this be placed at the GG'S,seems like Saving Mr Banks part two and we all know how that ended,her role seems lightweight compared the other heavy lifters such as Pike,Moore,Swank,Chastain and Witherspoon whom i think will be our final 5,will they want frothy this year,can Waltz play anything other than slimy,underhanded and insincere,good luck as i like Burton esp Ed Wood.
Slowmo-- accents, right? Makes you long for the days of Streep.
I'm a Maybe. Why would Waltz be cast in the role of a Midwestern man? Not only is his accent off but he seems miscast overall. Wasn't Jeff Daniels available? Or perhaps he's too old. I haven't been a Burton fan in a very long time so reviews would have to be great for me to see this in a theater.
I think this looks OK. I agree that the look of the film seems a bit generic and perhaps dated, but maybe it will work when watching the film in full. Plus, I haven't seen a Burton film since Sweeney Todd (which I quite liked other than for Depp's singing) because I've just got so bored with his aesthetic, and so I'll be intrigued to see him do something different.
I also liked that the trailer didn't seem to give away the whole emotional arc; unlike many trailers, I didn't get a sense here of how I will feel at the end of the film. And I don't think the trailer needs to explain its 'holes' - surely these are meant to entice us into the cinema to find out.
Re: the actors: like goran, I'm usually happy to follow Adams to wherever she's going, so I'm cautiously optimistic about this. And Waltz is always worth watching - and he can't build an entire career out of Oscars for Tarantino films, so he's got to try other things.
Overall, then, I'm a Maybe So!
jordan - true, at least it's not a cradle-to-tomb biopic (well, margaret keane is also still alive, so...) but they were married for ten years and then the trial, which the film covers, was 20 years later. that's definitely decades of her life. but perhaps the film will just focus on the marriage and then jump to the trial - which does seem more focused. i think i was just annoyed that the trailer seems to contain so much (she moves to SF, she meets him in park, they get married, he takes credit for her paintings, etc...) that the story seemed more sprawling than it is.
According to the Hollywood Reporter , there's a huge spike in sales for Keane's paintings in anticipation of the movie. i would freak out if i had one of those staring at me in my apt...
Yes: Amy Adams! Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Terrance Stamp, Krysten Ritter! Never a moment when someone worth watching isn't onscreen.
Adams always brings out the best in her co-stars and is able to adapt to any style- this ought to be a really fascinating mix.
Maybe so: the story may turn out to be a little disappointing, even if the actors are great.
No: hard to take those paintings seriously.
The trailer won me over with two phrases:
1) "Lady art doesn't sell".
2) "I've been lying to my daughter".
I'm in general interested in painter biopics because I love to paint. So I'm a YES.
The trailer looks like the typical Weinstein trailer, so no surprise. And I think it was fine.
Why would Amy not getting nominated for this? A win (other than the Comedy Globe) may be out of the question, but the nom is a sure thing I believe.
It's just silly to put her in the Deborah Kerr or Glenn Close Club too early, because she has a lot of baity projects out there. I don't believe it will take her twenty years to get another nom, unlike Glenn Close.
About Christoph Waltz.... Is anyone in Hollywood actually interested to see him playing a "good" character?
(although he was partly the "good" guy in Django Unchained)
I like her british accent :) It` s so cute
I don't really think she's attempting a Southern accent here as we've seen her nail that one, in Junebug. My assumption would be that she's going for Keane's real accent from recordings of some kind, but as I haven't heard any, can't tell if she's successful.
I'm a yes for Adams, Waltz, and Burton finally changing it up. The tone is a bit off in this trailer, but that's not always indicative of the final product.
It was astonishing news when it broke -- that behind these ubiquitous paintings, which were reproduced EVERYWHERE in the 70s, and which were meant to portray something about the innocence of children -- was a story of emotional abuse between a domineering husband and an exploited wife.
The trailer isn't quite going there in any interesting way, but I still hold out hope that the film is more surprising, twisted, complicated and Burtonesque than what we see here.
I am neither an Adams nor a Burton completist, but without even seeing the trailer I'm a Yes, because... 'tis the season.
Adams looks dull in this, which is strange because what I love and hate about her as a performer are her bigger choices. It appears that she's going for something more soulful than we've ever seen from her, which is admirable—Sarandon won for her most understated work and I'm a fan of quietly magnetic performances. I guess my biggest concern is the film around her and my anticipation for a few other best actress contenders this year.
Oh god, where's model Masha Tyelna when you need her? That girl had THE biggest eyes.
I must admit that this trailer cooled some of my fascination with this very odd project but if the reviews are there, I'm totally in. Also, I'm kinda already bored with the male cast, save Stamp. Casting Krysten Ritter, on the other hand, is totally inspired.
PS. A Tim Burton movie with the title Big Eyes that features neither Ricci, Ryder, Keaton nor Bonham Carter just doesn't seem right...
I think the trailer looks okay... But what worries me are the stories I heard in Cannes (I know: hearsay...). Three different buyers from Germany and other countries told me after a screening of the film how disappointing and bland it was. So far, no one has bought the film for Germany, which is surprising for a Burton film starring Waltz (and Adams)... But we'll see. But the Academy would have to love Adams even more thank I thought if they nominate her for "Big Eyes", I think...
@Patrick
Really? That very interesting. They buy practically everything with Waltz in it.
I still hope they do, because I want to see this.
Hey Nat, thanks for the shout-out. ;-)
(FYI: right now that sidebar link takes you to the Maze Runner review and not to this post.)
Don't expect Amy's character here to be showy - Margaret Keane has been silent and shy all her life. But Amy will give justice to the role. Her eyes will show that integrity of Margaret's. She will be nominated and I am hoping for a win. :)