Big Eyes ***

Dir:  Tim Burton

Starring: Amy Adams, Christoph Waltz, Danny Huston, Terence Stamp, Krysten Ritter, Jason Schwartzman

Big Eyes is based on the true life tale of how Walter Keane (Christoph Waltz) stole credit from his wife Margaret (Amy Adams) for her phenomenally popular art in the 1950s and 60s.

Even if you don’t know the names Walter Keane or Margaret Keane, you probably recognise the art. For a while posters of her work - innumerable paintings of sad-looking children and women with huge eyes – were everywhere, in homes and college dorms all over the world.

Walter Keane’s true genius lay not in his artistic talent (he had none) but in his salesmanship and his ability to push the boundaries of the commercialisation of art and, for a while, he became one of the best known "painters" in the world before the truth eventually emerged.

This is a story which would be hard to swallow if it wasn’t true.

There is no mystery as to why Tim Burton - given his oeuvre – would be drawn to the surrealism of it all. But while he does manage to hold your interest throughout you never really are able to get to know Margaret as a person despite Amy Adams’ sympathetic performance.

However, Christoph Waltz surprisingly overplays his hand (he is otherwise a fine actor) and comes close to mugging at times.

Despite these faults the movie remains watchable because of the inherently intriguing history on which it is based.

Cut to chase: An interesting tale which never is able to dip below the surface