A street artist (Christoph Waltz) impresses a single mother and aspiring artist (Amy Adams) with his tales of classical training in the great European cities and the two subsequently marry. When he is able successfully pass off her work as his own (paintings of subjects with oversized eyeballs) at a pub, the popularity of her work spreads like wildfire leading to great fame for him, virtual enslavement for her, and eventual court case. Tim Burton's Big Eyes, an atypically straightforward film for the director and based on the story of Margaret Keane is stagnant, torpid, and never really gains its footing. The usually reliable Adams turns in an insipid performance portraying a bland and pathetic person while Waltz is preposterous and downright laughable as the heavy.
** out of ****
