Big Eyes

Big Eyes is a 2014 American biographical drama film directed by Tim Burton, written by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and starring Amy Adams and Christoph Waltz. It is about the relationship between American artist Margaret Keane and her second husband, Walter Keane, who, in the 1950s and 1960s, took credit for Margaret's phenomenally popular paintings of people with big eyes. The film had its world premiere in New York City on December 15, 2014, and was released in the U.S. by The Weinstein Company on December 25, 2014. It was met with generally favorable reviews, with particular praise given to the performances of Adams and Waltz and performed moderately well at the box office, grossing $29 million worldwide against the budget of $10 million. Adams won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical and received a nomination for the BAFTA for Best Actress in a Leading Role. Waltz was also nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance, and Lana Del Rey received a Golden Globe nomination for the film's title song, "Big Eyes". Plot In 1958, Margaret Ulbrich leaves her then-husband and takes her young daughter Jane to North Beach, San Francisco, where she gets a job painting illustrations at a furniture factory. While doing portraits at an outdoor art show, she meets Walter Keane, who sells paintings of Parisian street scenes but makes his money in real estate. They soon become close friends. Margaret is distraught when her husband asks for custody of Jane as part of the divorce settlement. Walter proposes, and they marry and honeymoon in Hawaii. She retains custody of Jane. Unable to get his or Margaret's paintings into a fine art gallery, Walter convinces Enrico Banducci, the owner of a popular jazz club, to rent him some wall space to exhibit their work. He is frustrated when the designated space is in the back by the bathrooms. He fights with Banducci and puts the man's head through one of Margaret's canvases. This becomes a front-page story in a local newspaper, which packs the club with people curious to see the art that made grown men fight. Dick Nolan, a celebrity gossip columnist, wants to know more about the artwork, but proceeds to ask about Margaret's paintings of young girls with big eyes. Walter goes along with the misunderstanding, failing to clarify that they are Margaret's creation.