After a string of mediocre movies; director Tim Burton regains his footing as he shifts from macabre fairy tales to Southern tall tales. Big Fish twines in and out of the oversized stories of Edward Bloom; played as a young man by Ewan McGregor (Moulin Rouge; Down with Love) and as a dying father by Albert Finney (Tom Jones). Edward's son Will (Billy Crudup; Almost Famous) sits by his father's bedside but has little patience with the old man's fables; because he feels these stories have kept him from knowing who his father really is. Burton dives into Bloom's imagination with zest; sending the determined young man into haunted woods; an idealized Southern town; a traveling circus; and much more. The result is sweet but--thanks to the director's dark and clever sensibility--never saccharine. Also featuring Jessica Lange; Alison Lohman; Helena Bonham Carter; Danny DeVito; and Steve Buscemi. --Bret Fetzer