Big Eyes
Weinstein Company, The | Release Date: December 25, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
62
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 40 Critic Reviews
Positive:
22
Mixed:
15
Negative:
3
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottDec 27, 2014
Big Eyes is not dissimilar to the Keane paintings at its center. That is, it's by no means flawless, but there's an odd attraction there, something intriguing that draws you in and makes you want to find out if there's anything worthwhile there. You can say what you will about Keane's work, but in the case of Burton's film, these "Eyes" have it. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottDec 24, 2014
Trying to do Margaret justice, Mr. Burton can’t prevent himself (and Mr. Waltz) from upstaging her. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzDec 24, 2014
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 full review
60
TimeRichard CorlissDec 24, 2014
The Keane story is a rich parable that deserves either a wilder or a more acute telling than Burton provides here. Read full review
60
The DissolveKeith PhippsDec 24, 2014
Big Eyes contains comedy and tragedy, too, but they pair much less agreeably here, in part because each of the film’s two protagonists belongs much more to one world than the other. Read full review
60
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyDec 24, 2014
This portrait of a woman on the verge — of success, of suppression, of submission, of rebellion — is never fully realized. Read full review
60
New York Daily NewsElizabeth WeitzmanDec 22, 2014
Burton structures the film, right up to the fascinating finale, as both a damning tale of male privilege and a moving story of a woman’s liberation. The actors reflect these themes accordingly. Adams is touchingly restrained and Waltz is monstrously charismatic. Read full review
60
Total FilmJames MottramDec 22, 2014
Adams is as watchable as ever as Margaret, backed by fine support, but the problem lies with Waltz. He’s more caricature than character, and Burton proves unable to harness his energy as well as Tarantino did. Read full review
60
The GuardianJordan HoffmanDec 22, 2014
Certainly we care for Margaret and the way Walter has her trapped, but her character comes across as a cypher representing a great number of issues without being a real individual. This movie wants to be an oil painting, but ends up being more of a mass-produced, though good-quality print. Read full review
60
EmpireIan FreerDec 22, 2014
Tim Burton’s return to real-life storytelling is entertaining but flawed. See it for a fascinating true story and a fantastic Amy Adams. Beware the uneven tone, a lack of depth and Christoph Waltz’s monumental mugging. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsDec 22, 2014
The Keanes' story is one of eventual triumph over adversity for Margaret, but Big Eyes struggles on the page to make much of her as a character. Adams struggles as well; she's acting in one movie, a sincere, often anguished one, while Waltz (mugging up a storm) works in an entirely different key. Read full review
50
IndieWireEric KohnNov 14, 2014
A well-intentioned and resolutely minor period drama, "Big Eyes" isn't exactly a catastrophe, but its bland depiction of a fascinating story perhaps better served by the documentary treatment shows no evidence of the visionary creator behind the camera. Read full review
50
VarietyJustin ChangNov 14, 2014
Despite Amy Adams’ affecting performance as an artist and ’50s/’60s housewife complicit in her own captivity, this relatively straightforward dramatic outing for Tim Burton is too broadly conceived to penetrate the mystery at the heart of the Keanes’ unhappy marriage — the depiction of which is dominated by an outlandish, ogre-like turn from Christoph Waltz that increasingly seems to hold the movie hostage. Read full review
40
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternDec 24, 2014
It’s easy to see why Mr. Burton, an influential imagist in his own right and a collector of Keane paintings, was attracted to this saga of contending Keanes, and the result, photographed by Bruno Delbonnel, is a study in yummy colors and period design. But I watched wide-eyed with dismay while the film turned as lifeless as the paintings. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonDave CalhounDec 22, 2014
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 full review
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