Cast: Amy Adams is the lead and you know she'll be good. It's a simple performance, so there's not much there to really blow you away. Christoph Waltz is incredibly broad and villain-y, exactly as he's asked to be. Krysten Ritter shows up for a spell and I kept waiting for her to turn into the B... from Apartment 23, but that's on me. The girls they got to play Adams' daughter are good and certainly look like different ages of the same person.
Plot: This is based on the true story of Margaret and Walter Keane (Adams and Waltz respectively). Back in the 50s and 60s, Walter became famous for work that turned out to be Margaret's. The movie covers that entire time span, from Margaret meeting Walter through the numerous years it takes before she gets the credit she deserves. Waltz goes full heel in this and plays Walter as such a transparent sleaze that I would've liked a little more time spent explaining why Margaret puts up with him. It's a story without real incident as the success comes easily, the split happens definitively, and exposing the truth occurs matter of fact-ly. Other than a couple slight detours into discussing the difference between art and kitsch, there's little meat to this.
Elephant in the Room: Tim Burton directed it, you say? Burton is a director who often can't help himself. His style at times veers into self-parody. It is refreshing to see him try something a little different. He dropped frequent collaborators like Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in favor of actors who were a nice change, even if they didn't seem comfortable with what he needed them to do. In typical Burton fashion, there are times when I'm not sure if he's going for comedy or drama (an altercation between Walter and Terrence Stamp's critic character comes immediately to mind) and that makes the tone very confusing.
To Sum Things Up:
This is an ok movie. Nothing about it evokes a strong feeling from me. I wish I had more of a sense of how much of a comedy or drama it's meant to be, because there are several scenes that either play as really warped comedy or rather poor drama and if I could figure those out, I might be able to enjoy a lot more about it. The 2014 awards contenders seem to follow the theme of people getting their due credit (Alan Turring in The Imitation Game, Louis Zamperini in Unbroken) and it's nice to see that happen for Margaret Keane for modern audiences. Beyond that, I struggle to see how this movie isn't forgotten entirely by the time it leaves theaters*.
*Ok, if Adams gets a Best Actress Oscar nomination it'll be remembered a little longer. Honestly though, I don't think there's enough here to warrant a nomination, but that's just me.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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