Big Eyes 2014

Wesley Morris, Grantland: Burton might need to get further from blockbuster bloat in order to regain his formal mastery of kitsch. Right now his sense of comic portraiture is too easily mistakable for splatter painting. Read more

Kyle Smith, New York Post: "Big Eyes" toys with some amusing ideas, and that's enough. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: Nimble, off the beaten track and very entertaining, it's the cinematic equivalent of a lava lamp. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: Visually inventive, as are all of Burton's movies, "Big Eyes" is pleasant enough to watch; you just wish there were more to it. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: The Keane story is a rich parable that deserves either a wilder or a more acute telling than Burton provides here. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: "Big Eyes" doesn't seem to trust either the factual truth or the emotional logic of the dilemma it's showing us. Read more

A.A. Dowd, AV Club: Big Eyes has plenty of surface pleasures, but there was reason to expect more than that from it. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: The story is just so downright weird that the film can't help but be compelling. Just not as compelling as it could have been. Read more

Ty Burr, Boston Globe: Waltz ham-and-eggs Adams off the screen. In the process, the movie strands her character without an inner life, a psychology, or anything that would indicate what makes her tick. Read more

Ben Sachs, Chicago Reader: Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz are charismatic in the lead roles; occasionally they distract from the movie's overall smugness. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: Instead of comic and dramatic provocation, "Big Eyes" settles for a pastel set of emotions lost in a primary color world. Read more

Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor: Adams is very good at the difficult art of making passive characters interesting -- a gift that stands her in good stead here. Read more

Chris Nashawaty, Entertainment Weekly: Despite its sharp feminist sting, Big Eyes never loses its light touch. Maybe the lesson here is that Burton should venture out of his dark, creepy comfort zone more often. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: This nimble, bemused, culturally curious look at the married instigators of the kitschy "big eyes" paintings of the early 1960s exudes an enjoyably eccentric appeal while also painting a troubling picture of male dominance and female submissiveness ... Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: This portrait of a woman on the verge - of success, of suppression, of submission, of rebellion - is never fully realized. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: A smart, funny, feel-good film -- from Tim Burton? It's his best since "Ed Wood." Read more

David Denby, New Yorker: A feminist psycho-melodrama made without insight or dramatic excitement. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: What matters is, does the artist speak through this work? And does this work speak to you? And "Big Eyes" does. I just wish it spoke louder. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: "Big Eyes" is still a compelling film, well presented and solidly performed by leads Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. But more weirdness would have done wonders. Read more

A.O. Scott, New York Times: In "Big Eyes," the sincerity of the artist trumps the judgment of the critics, and her vision triumphs over fraudulent promotion. It makes a passionate case for her. Whether it vindicates her art is another question entirely. Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: A wondrously strange true story about art and heartbreak, intellectual property theft, and the subjugation of women. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: A straightforward and mature film with little in the way of overt weirdness. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: For all its tonal shifts and erratic pacing, the film is Burton's heartfelt tribute to the yearning that drives even the most marginalized artist to self expression no matter what the hell anyone thinks. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: Tim Burton fashions the perfect frame around these actors and then lets them fill out this marvelous creation. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Throughout his career, Burton has always been capable of surprising audiences. "Big Eyes" is no exception. Read more

James Adams, Globe and Mail: Burton lets his film putter along in middle gear, provoking neither riotous laughter nor emotional immersion. Read more

Bruce Demara, Toronto Star: It dwells in that amorphously ill-defined zone, Dramedyland, a place from whence audiences too often return with a shrug and a vague sense of confusion and disappointment. Read more

Inkoo Kang, TheWrap: "The most human film from Burton since "Ed Wood," this biopic of kitsch painter Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) marks a small but significant artistic growth." Read more

Dave Calhoun, Time Out: Burton lets Waltz run wild, sucking the air out of every scene with his hysterics, and the always-endearing Adams is left looking like a rabbit in the headlights. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: Fascinating, nimbly acted and, an er, eye-opening look at the culture of male dominance of a couple generations past. Read more

Amy Nicholson, L.A. Weekly: You can't help but sense Tim Burton nodding in agreement when Walter bellows, "Just because people like my work, does that make it bad?" Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Adams is lovely and tremulous, but Big Eyes would be even better if Waltz was in the same key. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: "Big Eyes" is technically and aesthetically attractive. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: I watched wide-eyed with dismay while the film turned as lifeless as the paintings. Read more