Big Fish (2003)

A giant, a witch, a barefoot town and a pair of singing twins, and the least believable thing in Big Fish is the son who’s mad about all of it. Billy Crudup plays Will like a man who brought a fact-checker to a campfire. That’s the movie’s weak spot: the real-world half is beige and slow, and every time we leave the stories it feels like the lights came up early. The stories are where Tim Burton goes full sugar rush. Ewan McGregor plays young Edward with a grin you could see from space, and Albert Finney as the older version is a clinic in charming someone who’s already annoyed with you. Helena Bonham Carter pulls double duty and nails both parts. It only made $122.9 million worldwide, but the ending has a way of finding people years later. A 7.7 because the tall tales soar and the frame around them drags. $511 says you call your dad after this and he tells you a story that’s at least a little made up.

What works: The tall-tale sections are Tim Burton at his warmest, and Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney make the same man easy to love at both ends of his life.

What doesn’t: The present-day scenes are flat and slow, and Will is so stiff you spend half the movie wishing he would loosen up.

Who it’s for: Anyone with a parent who has one story they’ve heard a hundred times and still lets them tell it.