Big Eyes

Artist Margaret Keene has lived quite the life! First she was an unhappily married mother of one. Next she left her husband and chose to struggle as a single mom, while trying to sell her unusual paintings of big-eyed waifs (it's an acquired taste, if you ask me, but you will recognize them instantly...). Then she met a fellow who began taking credit for her work and developed a HUGE market for it. After that... well. You kinda have to see it, because it unfolds so logically, it just SEEMS outrageous. AND you have to know what society's rules were in the 50s and 60s to understand why things were the way they were.

Director Tim Burton ("Dark Shadows") working from a screenplay by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (jointly won a Golden Globe for "The People vs. Larry Flint") gives us a PG-13 movie that has already garnered many award nominations.

Part of the cast:

• Amy Adams ("American Hustle") Best Actress nomination from the Golden Globes for her portrayal of Margaret Keene, a 50s woman inching her way toward independence. We get to meet the "real" Margaret during the final credits.
• Christoph Waltz ("Django Unchained") This two-time Oscar winner has been nominated for Best Actor by Golden Globes for his spooky interpretation of the con man Walter Keene. This guy is so charming it's easy to see how he became Margaret's second husband, plus we can understand how he segued into the art of deception.
• Danny Huston ("The Congress") is Dick Nolan, the newspaper man who collaborates with Walter to create a phenomenal fad for those ubiquitous Big-Eyed Waifs.
• Terence Stamp ("The Art of the Steal") is John Canaday, the art critic who lambastes the fad with all the professional clout he can muster.
• Krysten Ritter (Lots of TV) is DeeAnn, the friend who tells Margaret some unwelcome truths.

I don't remember any profanity, and certainly no violence or sweaty bodies;  there is no vehicular mayhem or blowie uppie stuff, so I'm not sure why it's PG-13 except for the need to understand the 60s. This is a satisfying, true-life depiction of the evolution of an artist... Oh, and some smoking. Adams and Waltz do most of the heavy lifting and they are both excellent!

* * * * * * * * * * * *
See a sample:
http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2391846681
* * * * * * * * * * * *