- A frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
- United Press International journalist Will Bloom and his French freelance photojournalist wife Josephine Bloom, who is pregnant with their first child, leave their Paris base to return to Will's hometown of Ashton, Alabama on the news that his father, Edward Bloom, stricken with cancer, will soon die, he being taken off chemotherapy treatment. Although connected indirectly through Will's mother/Edward's wife, Sandra Bloom, Will has been estranged from his father for three years since his and Josephine's wedding. Will's issue with his father is the fanciful tales Edward has told of his life all his life, not only to Will but the whole world. As a child when Edward was largely absent as a traveling salesman, Will believed those stories, but now realizes that he does not know his father, who, as he continues to tell these stories, he will never get to know unless Edward comes clean with the truth before he dies. On the brink of his own family life beginning, Will does not want to be the kind of father Edward has been to him. One of those stories from Edward's childhood - that he saw his own death in the glass eye of a witch - led to him embracing life since he would not have to fear death knowing when and how it would eventually come. The question is whether Will will be able to reconcile Edward's stories against his real life, either directly from Edward before he dies and/or from other sources, and thus allow Will to come to a new understanding of himself and his life, past, present and future.—Huggo
- When Edward Bloom becomes ill, his son, William, travels to be with him. William has a strained relationship with Edward because his father has always told exaggerated stories about his life, and William thinks he's never really told the truth. Even on his deathbed, Edward recounts fantastical anecdotes. When William, who is a journalist, starts to investigate his father's tales, he begins to understand the man and his penchant for storytelling.
- This picture follows the incredible life of Edward Bloom, through a series of flashbacks that begin when his son Will visits him for the last time. Edward is dying of cancer, and Will hasn't spoken to him for years because he believes him to be a liar that never really cared for his family. As Edward's story unfolds once again, Will tries to finally understand the truth about who his father really was...—Chris Makrozahopoulos <makzax@hotmail.com>
- Edward Bloom (Albert Finney), an entertaining and charismatic teller of tall tales, is a source of frustration to his only son, William (Billy Crudup) who grew up believing his father's stories until it became obvious they were lies. At Will's wedding, Will feels embarrassed by his father telling the guests an impossible-sounding story about the day of Will's birth, involving catching a giant catfish with his wedding ring as bait. Will feels that his father tells these huge lies just to get attention and confronts him angrily about it. Edward denies his son's accusations and they end up not speaking to each other for three years.
Three years later, Will, now living in Paris, France, receives news that Edward has fallen ill with cancer, and that he might not have long to live. Will and his pregnant wife, Josephine (Marion Cotillard) travel to Ashton, Alabama, Will's hometown. They have a reunion with Sandra K. Bloom (Jessica Lange), Edward's wife and Will's mother, who is bringing Edward home from the hospital to take care of him in what they believe to be his final days. Edward is weak and bedridden, but he and Will finally speak again. Will asks to know the truth about his father's life. Edward retells his version of his childhood....
In a flashback, a young Edward (Scott Christopher Mcpherson Jr.) and two of his friends meet a witch (Helena Bonham Carter) living in a swamp who has a glass eye which supposedly reveals the eventual death of anyone who looks into it. While everyone else usually cowers in front of the witch, Edward insists on seeing his death. Edward sees how he will die (though the audience does not), and concludes that he can now take unreasonable risks because he knows they won't kill him. Soon afterward, Edward begins to grow at an alarming rate and is hooked up to a machine in bed, as his muscles and bones cannot keep up with his "body's ambition." In an encyclopedia, young Edward reads that a goldfish will remain small if kept in a small bowl, but will grow bigger in a larger habitat. Because he is growing so fast, he concludes he is meant for bigger things.
With the confidence that he can do anything he wants and a huge amount of ambition, as a teenager, Edward Bloom (Ewan McGregor) grows into a high school star athlete, a star entrepreneur, and a local hero. When a mysterious "monster" comes to town and eats livestock during the night, Edward volunteers to talk to it and get it to leave. Edward tracks down the culprit, a gloomy but goodhearted giant named Karl (Matthew McGrory), and persuades him to move to a bigger city. Edward explains that Ashton is too small a town for men of Karl's size and Edward's ambition. He then offers the giant to leave with him. The two leave town, and Edward is given the key to Ashton by the mayor.
They approach a forest, which Edward wants to take a shortcut through but Karl doesn't. He promises to meet Karl on the other side, and ventures through the woods (which are full of thorns, spiders, and bees). He stumbles across the hidden town of Spectre, a seemingly perfect place where no one wears shoes. When he enters the town, he is greeted by Beamen, the mayor (singer/songwriter Loudon Wainwright III), his wife Mildred (Missi Pyle) and their 8 years old daughter Jenny (Hailey Anne Nelson). The mayor has a clipboard that says Edward was meant to be in their town, but he's arrived early. Beamen tells Edward of the poet, Norther Winslow, who is also from Ashton. Jenny steals his shoes and flung them up onto a high rope at the entrance of the town, along with many other pairs that were taken from each townsperson upon their arrival in Spectre in an effort to keep them there. Spectre is the perfect town where everything is comfortable and everyone is delighted. At night, Edward encounters a mermaid in a pond near Spectre, but she swims away before he can see her face.
After spending one day and night in the mysterious town, Edward realizes he has indeed arrived too soon and is not ready to settle down. He shocks the townspeople by politely excusing himself to get on with his journey. Jenny challenges him that he doesn't have his shoes anymore but Edward simply decides to continue his trek barefoot. He promises a smitten little Jenny that he will return someday.
Edward rejoins Karl on the main road after losing his key to Ashton when it seemed to him like the forest itself was attacking him.
He and Karl stumble upon a circus, where Karl is immediately hired as an attraction by the owner and ringmaster, Amos Calloway (Danny DeVito), and his clown/attorney, Mr. Soggybottom (Deep Roy), when Karl proves to be much more impressive than their local giant. Edward spots a beautiful girl in the big-top audience and experiences love at first sight but she is whisked out the door with the crowd before he can speak to her. She turns out to be a family friend of Calloway's. Certain that she is the woman he will marry, Edward begs Calloway for a job, asking for only one piece of information about the girl for every month of work. Edward then spends the next three years toiling hard at the circus for free and learning casual trivia about the girl of his dreams such as the fact that she loves daffodils and music. Three years later, tired of living without a name, Edward goes to confront Calloway only to discover that Amos is a werewolf. Instead of killing the beast, Edward decides to treat it like a dog and plays with it all night. To reward Edward for his refusal to harm Amos in his monstrous state, Amos tells Edward the girl's name is Sandra Templeton and he can find her studying at Auburn University. Edward leaves the circus with Mr. Calloway's blessing and sets off to find Sandra.
In the present day, the elderly Edward befriends his daughter-in-law, Josephine, but is still at odds with his son, who believes him to be a liar. Will begs his father to be himself, but Edward firmly retorts "I've been nothing but myself since the day I was born, and if you can't see that, it's your failing, not mine!"
In the flashback tall tale, upon reaching the university where Sandra Templeton (Alison Lohman) is a student, the young Edward finally meets her and explains that he loves her. She is kind to him and has heard of his accomplishments in Ashton, but is already engaged to Edward's hapless rival, Ashton native, Don Price (David Denman). Still determined, Edward finds not-so-subtle ways to woo Sandra. One morning, Sandra awakens to find her lawn covered in daffodils provided by Edward. However, Don Price appears and begins to brutally beat Edward, who had promised Sandra he would not fight back. But as Sandra sees Don's cruelty, she breaks the engagement, and eventually does marry Edward. Edward later reveals that Don died from a sudden heart attack while sitting on a toilet only a few years later (as Don had seen in the witch's glass eye).
While recovering in the hospital from his fight injuries, Edward receives a draft notice, forcing him to enlist for the Korean War. While sad to leave his new wife, Edward knows from the glass eye that nothing from the war will kill him. Thus, he volunteers for the most dangerous missions available in hopes of being released sooner. While parachuting into a North Korean army base during a show for the troops to steal some important documents, Edward meets struggling Siamese twin singers Ping (Ada Tai) and Jing (Arlene Tai) who are performing that night. He offers to help them break into American show business if they can help him get back home to which the twins agree. However, the U.S. Army lists him as missing and presumably dead, sending a telegram to a heartbroken Sandra. (In the present day, Sandra finds the telegram and shows it to Will, proving that there is some truth to Edward's stories.) After a few months of low key traveling, Edward is able to rejoin his wife. He then took a job as a traveling salesman to buy them a better house.
In line at a bank one day, the younger Edward encounters Norther Winslow (Steve Buscemi), a native of Ashton he met years before in Spectre. Norther, inspired by Bloom leaving, has since left Spectre too and has become an outlaw. He then ropes Edward into assisting him in robbing the bank. However, the bank has literally no cash for them to steal. Edward then spends the next few hours explaining to Norther how the world of finances works now. Norther resolves to go to Wall Street, where the real money is, where he becomes a wealthy businessman. He later sends Edward $10,000 as a thank you note, which Edward uses to buy a house for Sandra and a young Will.
Back in the present day, while in bed, Josephine asks Will if he loves his father, and he tells her that he was never around when he was a kid, saying, "He likes his second life better, and the reason he tells these stories is because he can't stand this boring place." Josephine disagrees, and tells Will that he should talk to his father.
The next day, still unimpressed by his father's stories, Will demands to know the truth, but Edward explains that he is who he is: a storyteller. While doing his own investigation into his father's stories, Will finds paper traces of the small town of Spectre. He travels to Spectre where he meets Jenny Hill, Beaman's daughter now all grown up. Although they never met before, Jenny recognizes Edward's son right away. Jenny tells Will the story of how she met Edward for the second time in her life, although this time, he was late.
Young Edward is driving his car one night through an overwhelming thunderstorm, when his car gets completely submerged underwater. A beautiful naked woman swims by the car, and presses her hand against his window. Edward recognizes the mermaid from that one night, a long time ago, in Spectre. The next day, Edward's car gets stuck in a tree and Edward finds his key to the city of Ashton. He wanders back into downtown Spectre, which is now no longer a beautiful oasis, but a depressed and abandoned ghost town. A new road has brought the outside world to Spectre, and with it banks, liens, and debt. Almost everywhere you look, people are now bankrupt. Edward gets in touch with a few of his friends including Norther Winslow, the Siamese twins, and the Calloway circus to put together an offer to buy back the town and save it from bankruptcy. In order to truly own the town and make sure it is safe, Edward needs everyone to sign over their deeds to him and his group. Everyone in Spectre agrees except Jenny who still holds a grudge against Edward for not coming back for her like he promised a long time ago.
Seeing the condition of her home, Edward begins to fix it up himself, with the help of Karl the giant. At this point, Will asks Jenny directly if she was having an affair with his father. Jenny reveals that she still had feelings for Edward and that one night, when every little thing in her house was fixed, she signed over the deed to her house to Edward and then made a move on him but he stopped everything because he only had feelings and love for his wife Sandra. She also explains that, after saving the town, Edward never returned to Spectre and the night she tried to kiss him was the last night they ever saw each other. She adds that she became part of Edward's tales while Sandra and Will were always his true story.
Upon his return to Ashton, Will finds out his father has had a stroke and is now hospitalized. Everyone is worried but Edward keeps telling everyone that this is not the death he saw in the glass eye. Will sends his mom and his wife home to rest while he spends the night at his father's bed. During the evening, Will encounters the family doctor, who had delivered him and is now treating Edward. Will asks to know the real story of his birth, having only heard his father's catfish story in the past. The doctor explains that it was simply a normal birth that Edward missed because he was working, and though Edward exaggerated it, hearing his story was a lot more entertaining and comforting than the truth. Will decides to reconcile with his dying father, finally understanding that his stories were only meant to entertain and comfort and were not lies created to cover up some boredom or disappointment.
Later that night, Will finds Edward only partially conscious, and unable to speak at length. Since Edward can no longer tell stories, he asks Will to tell him the story of how his life ends. Will tells his father that he doesn't know that story since Edward never told him what he saw in the glass eye. Edward keeps insisting and Will realizes it's up to him to finish the story. Deciding to play along, Will tells his own impromptu tall tale: Edward regains strength, and he and Will escape from the hospital. Jumping into Edward's old car, they speed up to a nearby river, where everyone Edward has ever met are waiting. Instead of a funeral, they are holding a goodbye party, and Edward happily bids them farewell as Will carries him into the river where Edward transforms into a giant catfish and swims away. Edward agrees with Will that this is exactly how he dies. Shortly afterwards, Edward dies. Will is the only one present for Edward's death, and is both sad but also deeply happy that they finally connected at last.
At Edward's funeral, Will, Josephine and Sandra along with Edward's doctor are initially the only ones in attendance. Then a long line of cars, vans and buses arrive and it is here that Will becomes astonished to see all of the characters from Edward's stories show up to pay their respects to Edward; Amos Calloway, Karl the Giant, Norther Winslow, Older Jenny, Mr. Soggybottom, Ping and Jing, Mayor Beamen of Spectre are all present. However, each one of them is slightly less fantastical than they're described in Edward's stories. For example, Karl is not a 12-foot giant, but is still quite tall at around seven feet; Ping and Jing are not conjoined twins, just identical. It finally becomes clear that Edward had simply combined his love of storytelling with his own reality, which finally makes sense to Will. When his own son is born, Will passes the stories on to him, remarking that his father became his stories -- allowing him to live forever.
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