Blu-ray review: Tim Burton's 'Big Eyes' starring Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz

As the cliches go, those who can’t do, teach and those who can’t create become critics. If you can’t do any of those, you become a scam artist. That’s exactly what Walter Keane did, telling the world that he had actually painted the “Big Eye” children. In reality, they were made by his wife, Margaret Keane, who let Walter take credit for her work for a decade before finally getting a divorce and getting the credit she deserved.

That’s the topic Tim Burton tackled for his return to respectable filmmaking with Big Eyes. Burton has been stuck in mostly a rut lately of big-budget extravaganzas, but Big Eyes was supposed to be a return to his early days. He even reunited with Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the writers of his best film, Ed Wood, for the project.

So, heading into Big Eyes, there’s the expectation that Burton had finally made another Ed Wood. It’s about a subject that some mocked, but taken seriously, after all. And it has some similar themes. Ed Wood was a filmmaker with a passion, but never found respect. Walter and Margaret were much more successful financially than Wood, but they never got the respect of the art world they wanted.

However, the execution of Big Eyes is a bit too run-of-the-mill. Burton, in an effort to win critics back, decided to lose that adventurous streak that made his best films exciting. Big Eyes’ script is linear, turning it into a standard biopic that really shuffles the art itself to the side. Burton only takes advantage of the art once, during two scenes where Margaret begins seeing the “Big Eyes” in real life.

The acting does lift the movie, though. Amy Adams is typically amazing as Margaret, performing in such a nuanced way that makes her emotions clear, but without any big blow-up scene. It contrasts well with the constantly over-acting Christoph Waltz, who goes a bit overboard often. There’s a couple of scenes where he is just as chilling as he was in Quentin Tarantino’s films, but other times, he takes a big swing for a laugh.

Big Eyes hits Blu-ray from Anchor Bay and The Weinstein Company on April 14. There are only two bonus features. One is a 20-minute making of that includes too many clips from the actual film to be useful. It does feature an interview with Margaret herself that does make it worth watching. There is also a 33-minute Q&A session with most of the cast.

Big Eyes is an admirable effort from Burton, but he appears to have rejected much of his own style in an ill-fated effort to win awards. (The film ended up with no Oscar nominations, although Adams did win a Golden Globe.) That’s ironic, considering that the film is all about artistic integrity and staying true to yourself. Margaret eventually did it. And maybe Burton has to as well.