**Spoiler Alert**
Director: Tim Burton/Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman and Terence Stamp
The artist Margaret Keane, famous (or infamous, depending on your perspective) for her portraiture of children with exaggeratedly large, round eyes, is the subject of Tim Burton's entertaining new film Big Eyes. Whether Keane's work can be considered art isn't Burton's concern; his real focus lay in the story of how her former husband, Walter Keane, defrauded collectors and the public by claiming authorship of the paintings
Margaret Keane (played by the prodigiously talented Amy Adams) began painting in the 1950s', when sexism was more socially pervasive (not that is has completely ebbed now).
It also infected the art realm, where female artists were held in lower regard than their male peers. When we first see Margaret, she is moving frenetically around her home, gathering possessions and urging her daughter Jane to the door to flee an unhappy marriage. The misery she escapes is only the beginning of her travails with members of the opposite sex, who prove to be an unshakeable burden in her life.
She meets up with her friend DeeAnn (Krysten Ritter) in San Francisco, who shows her the lay of the city as Margaret attempts in earnest to start over. With little job history, she interviews for a position; painting portfolio in hand, only to be scolded by the employer for not remaining at home to care for her husband. In spite of the employer's chauvinism, Margaret manages to land a job utilizing her painting talents; detailing baby cribs and other furniture. A medium shot of Margaret toiling as the lone woman at her job is an eloquent statement about the dearth of female bodies in the 1950s' workplace.
Burton's cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel; known for his work on Amelie and Inside Llewyn Davis, paints 1950s' America in exaggerated bright pastels, a perfect visual companion for her paintings. We get the feeling something sinister lurks beneath the sunny Californian surface though we aren't privy to what it might be at this point in the film.
Dedicated to her art, she pursues her work extracurricularly; participating in sidewalk fairs, where she paints portraits for a small sum. We see her work area decorated with her paintings; children with over-sized eyes, sentimentally rendered. While painting a child's portrait, she overhears a blowhard in a neighboring space waxing philosophical about his own art to two beautiful women, which elicits an eye-roll from Margaret. Moments later, he approaches Margaret and introduces himself as Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz). He charms her into a dinner date at a local restaurant, where one of his paintings rests on wall above their table. In the course of conversation, Walter discusses his Parisian-street-themed painting and experiences as art student. Enchanted by his stories and his winning personality, Margaret is soon won-over by Walter.
When Margaret receives a letter from her husband challenging her custody of Jane, Walter suggests they marry, which they consummate soon after.
Margaret is soon acquainted with Walter's exceptional gifts for self-promotion and marketing. He talks a nightclub owner into reserving a space on his walls for his and Margaret's art, though he finds the space set aside for their work is in degrading proximity to the restrooms.
Walter's canny instincts for publicity bring him into the sphere of newspaper columnist Dick Nolan (Danny Huston), who witnesses a fight between the nightclub owner and Walter himself over the shabby space he's been allotted. The fracas appears in Nolan's front-page column, which draws the public's attention to the bar and Margaret's paintings. The owner and Walter exploit their new-found notoriety, which lead to robust sales for Margaret.
As Walter spends more of his time at the nightclub, he basks in attention meant for Margaret by patrons who express a fascination with her work. He seizes the opportunity to claim her work as his own, which Margaret soon discovers during an impromptu appearance at the club. When she confronts Walter about his lies, he dismisses her objections by citing his need to project male authorship. Faced with a mini-scandal and fraud, Margaret has little choice but to accede to Walter's claims.
Employing his promotional instincts, Walter opens a gallery devoted to her work across the street from another gallery, whose owner Ruben (Jason Schwartzman) had once rejected space on his own walls for Walter and Margaret's respective paintings. In spite of her painting's popularity, Ruben and local artists sneer at her work; dismissing it as kitsch.
As exposure spreads, Walter begins presenting her paintings to dignitaries visiting the city. And in an impressive publicity coup, he manages to secure prime exhibit space at the 1964 World's Fair in New York; an act that draws the ire and the supercilious disdain of famed New York art critic John Canaday (Terence Stamp). Canaday expresses contempt not only for the means by which Walter accomplished the feat, but for Margaret's art itself, for which he too shares a low opinion.
Meanwhile, the windfall from painting sales and mass-produced posters and cards of Margaret's work make it possible for the Keanes' lifestyle to be radically upgraded when they move into a comfortable home replete with a swimming pool. As Margaret is pulled deeper into the deception, her anger and frustration mount. She also notices her relationship with Jane deteriorate as Walter's fraud is further perpetrated. Her contempt for Walter reaches a fever pitch when she discovers that he has painted his name over the real author of the Parisian paintings he has claimed as his own all along.
An angry, drunken tirade prompts Margaret and Jane to leave Walter as they seek refuge in Hawaii's sunny climes. Divorce proceedings follow and in a liberating and courageous act, Margaret finally announces her authorship on a local radio show, which eventually leads to a courtroom showdown with Walter.
Burton's film, like Margaret Keane's work, is hardly great art. Burton appropriates Keane's aesthetic in telling her story, which is as much visual as biographical. He seems to excel at telling stories about kitschy personalities; Ed Wood falls into this category as well.
Both Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz, as one might expect, are quite well-cast. Adams' big, blue eyes are a visual echo of Margaret's subjects and Waltz has a knack for playing seductively charming scoundrels. I would have liked to seen more of Terence Stamp but we have to be content with his modest serving of screen-time.
There is something that cheats Big Eyes of loftier artistic status. What could it be? Burton is a director always content to have his stories look good rather than play well. Sound narratives have never been his strong suit, but his movies are always eye-honey. Nevertheless, I found his film enjoyable; a reaction I haven't had to one of his films since the aforementioned Ed Wood, which seems like eons past. It is satisfying and maybe that's all Burton intended his film to be. How could a film about an artist of dubious artistic distinction; whose work is undeniably sappy, be anything more? Still, Burton never condescends to his subject; he never treats his heroine as a clueless buffoon. When asked why she paints her subjects with large eyes, Margaret talks about how the eyes' power to express emotion. The scene isn't played for a laugh but is a touching expression of Margaret's aesthetic raison d'etre.
Burton's film is a diverting, holiday experience; a palate-clearing aperitif. I'm glad he brought the story to the screen but I wish it had been more.
